The Winds of Republic City
by Lazebe
Summary: Naruto, an orphan, is a non-bender growing up in the underworld of Republic City. The orphanage in which he grew up in is being exploited by the Triple Threat Triad, a group that is quickly rising the ranks of the criminal underworld even as the whispers of the anti-bending revolution is carried by the winds of Republic City. NaruKorra. Language, Rape (implied), Depict. Violence.
1. Chapter 1

If people believe something is real, it is real in its consequences (W.I. Thomas Theorem).

_Love is a great thing. Since I became a parent, I truly believe (although there might be a few exceptions) that parents all over the world always love their kids. When children can truly understand the love from their parents, it greatly helps them find themselves. So I really wanted to give Naruto that experience. – Masashi Kishimoto_

oOo

(8 years old. In an orphanage in Republic City)

It was the same as it always was. Every day, Naruto awoke to the same routine. The Avatar's Children Orphanage in Republic City graciously opened their doors to the likes of the Triple Threat Triad, a criminal organization whose growing infamy spread quickly beyond the criminal underworld of Republic City. The owner, a wicked man by the name of Mizuki, smiled warmly as he bowed out of the way of the front door, granting a representative of the group to walk into the room and turn on the lights.

"Alright kiddos, time to wake up and earn your way."

Naruto's eyes opened as the light above his head flickered on. He sat up in his bed and looked around the room filled with rickety beds and nameless, faceless little children whose lives just so happen to revolve around the will of the men in power within the Triple Threats.

He got up, knowing fully well what he was expected to do. Within an hour, Naruto found himself out in the middle of a street, crying as he sat down near a lamp post, his hands smothering his face as he wailed uncontrollably. He put himself outside of his body in a different location so that, in a sense, he wouldn't be the one participating in this heinous ploy. As an eight year old child, what else was he to do but follow orders given to him by adults?

"So this is your address," she muttered, taking the small slip of paper from the young disheveled boy and reading it carefully. She watched him as he rubbed vigorously at his eyes, trying to hide his tears in shame. He looked embarrassed to be showing those tears to a girl so pretty. "No need to cry, little one. I know where this is. It's not too far from here actually, how lucky! I should be able to make it back to work on time too if I just take you there real quick!" She reached for young Naruto's hand and smiled brightly when he gave his up, allowing her warmth to radiate through the skin of his hand up his arm and worm its way towards his chest. He hated this game. He always lost the warmth when it was over.

She couldn't help but feel her maternal instincts drive her to help this lost boy. He looked so sad and lonely out there, and even when she spared her attention toward him he still did not seem to be able to comprehend her good will. She didn't think the situation was very peculiar, as there were many children in Republic City who lived through life as orphans and street peddlers. She knew some of the dangers in dealing with many of them who were connected to some of the gangster groups in the city, but this boy couldn't be a part of it! Those were just ruffians that pickpocketed their way and begged for scraps and change. He told her that he had a mother and they had gotten separated last night. How terrible, she thought, a whole night the child had to spend out here in the cold, away from his mother. What else could she do but take him home? After all, it was only a short walk away.

The boy did not overthink his actions. He remained objective and impartial to the day's proceedings. Even as he followed the young woman by the hand, tears still bubbling at the corners of his eyes as she led him to the address he showed her on a piece of paper that had been written down for him, he didn't think about what would happen to her. Or at least, he would never let it show. On his face he wore a mask like an actor in a play might, and Naruto had practiced and cultivated his act, learning the tools of the trade from those with far more silver tongues and shinier faces.

The only thought that preoccupied his young mind, heart shriveled and body beaten as it was by the lack of tenderness and bread in his life, was that, for another night, he would have food and a place to sleep. That was all he ever cared about anymore. He knew he didn't have a family. Not one like this girl had, at least, because his family was the rest of the faceless orphans at the Avatar's Children Orphanage. And even then, how did one converse with inanimate objects, such as these children had become?

His mind had no reason to wander or wonder. They never let him find out what happened to the people that he tricked anyways. He would just walk them toward the house that was out of the way and just on the outskirts of Triple Threat territory that it was hard for the police force to investigate well enough in order to put a stop to it on all fronts.

"Is this your home?" she asked, hopefully, smiling softly at the young blond child who looked up at her, still short of breath from all of the crying that he was doing. She sighed and knelt down beside him, using her blouse to wipe away his tears before he nodded quickly and she patted him on the head, "Good. Now, let's go in and see if your mommy isn't home, Ok? I bet she's just worried sick about losing a precious little boy like yourself!"

He didn't respond. He couldn't say anything. No one missed him. No one except for the triads knew that he existed in the first place.

oOo

_They walked up to the house and she knocked on the door for him. To her surprise, it opened to reveal a dark living room that appeared to be vacant. She reached in to search for a light switch, but found none. Looking back at the young boy, she noticed that he didn't seem too excited to be standing there and it almost seemed like he didn't even recognize the place. Before she could deduce just what was going on, she shrieked when she felt a terribly strong grip on her arm. Within an instant, she was pulled into the house and dragged, kicking and screaming into the home as the door was shut in front of Naruto._

_The young boy just stood there, watching in uncertainty as he heard her muffled shrieks of panic due to his proximity to the door. The neighboring houses were either demolished or void of legal inhabitants. No one would be informing the police as to the whereabouts of the pretty, young girl who escorted Naruto back to his 'home'. In fact, no one would ever see that girl again._

oOo

Except… that didn't just happen. No, Naruto looked up at the girl and saw her standing there with the same awkward smile that had adorned her face after she peered into the apparently empty house. Had he just imagined that whole scenario? Why? Had it happened before? He couldn't remember.

Instead of something evil and dastardly meeting the two, a pair of smiling faces showed up to answer the door, switching on the light, surprising both of them as they made their way toward the door.

"Hello, I'm sorry, but who are you?" asked the older gentlemen as he adjusted his tie and hung his coat back up on the coat rack as he stood in front of the open door, surprising the young girl.

"Darling! Darling! It's my baby! Oh, you brought my baby back to me, thank you so!" A beautiful woman ran up to the door after the good samaritan stepped aside and turned to look at Naruto who offered an uneasy smile.

He groaned when she lifted him up and cooed and played with his hair. He bit his lip and then broke out crying again, saying, "Momma!" as he threw his arms around her neck while his back was facing the girl. He let out practiced sobs while his face remained completely blank.

"Thank you for bringing our boy back to us. My name is Ping and this is my wife Mei. We have been looking for him all night… the spirit of the Avatar must be watching over us for you to have brought him here."

The young girl smiled and said, "I'm sure it's something like that! I saw him sitting underneath a statue near the market. I couldn't just leave him there on his own like that! My name is Yuu, by the way. How did you lose track of him? You must have been worried sick!"

"Oh, you have _no_ idea!" bellowed the older man as he stroked his very thin split mustache, offering a charming smile to the young girl. He laughed and patted his 'son on the top of the head as his 'mother' fawned over him with tears growing in her eyes.

_Took her long enough, _thought the young boy as he rolled his eyes when he saw the paltry amount of tears coming from the woman who was playing a mother as she held onto him far less dearly than any mother ever would. Then again, he laughed inwardly, he had to admit that he had no way of knowing for sure just how a mother held her child.

"Please, I know it is early, but please allow me to pay you for your good deed," begged the father, Ping, as he stepped up to the young woman who was in her teens still, his hungry eyes bearing down upon her like the evil beast that he truly was.

She laughed and shook her head, saying, "No no! It was my pleasure! I'm just glad that you have your son back, that's all," she said, smiling as she turned back toward the door. "I have to head to work now any-"

Her eyes opened wide when she heard the door slam shut and the light switch off. The only light she could see now was that which came in through the shaded window on the wall adjacent to them. Slowly, the girl turned around and swallowed in trepidation as she felt her knees buckle under the weight of her shivering spine and her finger tips scraped against the door in search of the handle to try and find her escape.

Her eyes turned to the young boy who was now standing on the ground beside his 'mother', who had walked off as she retrieved a cigarette and a lighter from one of the tables nearby. Before the young girl could ask what was going on, the 'father' leaned in close and, with only his index finger, burned a hot trail of embers down the front of her chest, tearing her clothes apart by burning the threads.

"No, Yuu… I insist. After all, it is _my pleasure_ to pay you for what you've done for my boy."

Naruto watched quietly as her eyes locked onto his and she began to cry as her blouse fell to the floor, the threads glowing briefly before the cool air put out the small embers still left on the ruined cloth.

Tearless, the boy watched pitifully as she screamed, her eyes lit up like a fire was smoldering in them as she pointed at him, uttering, "Monster… _Monster…_ You _monster!_"

Naruto watched Ping beat the woman to the ground, leaving her a bloody mess after he was done with her. This wasn't the first time that Naruto stood there and watched. After all, no one told him what to do after he brought the women, or sometimes men, to the marked houses. All Naruto ever would do was follow directions. He was only waiting for his next job, which was usually given to him after the whole ordeal.

"Heh, you're twisted kid. She's right, ya know, you probably are a monster if you were able to watch all of that."

Ping's observation aside, Naruto was pretty sure this was the first time that he had been called a monster. Though he had this sneaking suspicion that he didn't become a monster this morning, rather, it happened when he popped out of thin air, around eight years ago. Naruto had no visual memories of his infantile and toddler years, of course, but he remembered a spicy, flowery scent that Naruto liked to believe was the smell of his real mother's perfume, or something nice like that.

Ping huffed in annoyance as he ripped open the woman's purse and picked out a few measly Yuans, the basic unit of currency within the United Republic of Nations. She had a few other items but nothing that really interested him at first glance, so he threw the bag and its contents spilled across the floor in front of the bloody shape of the girl lying there. He smirked and bagged what he had stolen before calling back into the room for the woman who had walked off to smoke a cigarette. "Hey Mei! This stupid bitch didn't have enough to feed me after, you got any cash on you? I'm starving!"

As Ping left, Naruto just continued to stand there, watching the girl as she writhed about on the ground, begging someone to 'make it stop'. Whether 'it' be the pain or her life, Naruto had no idea.

oOo

Was she still alive? Yuu turned her head as her left eye flickered open but her right stayed sealed shut from the beating she had taken at the hands of Ping. Unknowingly, she had walked right into Ping's trap, the same Ping of the Triple Threat Triads that a girl like her had no business knowing about. She was just a shopkeeper's daughter at a local craft store. They sold interesting items like model ships and old swords from the 100-year-war period. She often sold or gave away baked goods as well that she enjoyed to make because she always liked seeing the satisfied smiles and grins on people's faces as they bit into them.

Ping's dastardly face appeared in front of her and Yuu let out a scream, burying her body deeper into the bed as she tried to hide her face away into her pillow, hoping that he would just go away.

When nothing happened and she didn't hear anyone talking, Yuu slowly lifted her head from the pillow and only saw the young boy who had lead her there in the first place. She noticed the distant look in his eyes and her fury toward the child sank as she realized that he was probably just as much of a victim as she was… Was she a victim? Of course, right? It wasn't her fault that Ping had forced himself on her. Also, it's not like if she had done something different then things would be different now, right? If she had just ignored the boy, perhaps…

"I'm sorry. Please, don't cry." Naruto said, his own tears finally breaking through past his nearly expressionless face.

She looked up at him and told him, "I'm not… oh my… I'm crying." She tried to reach her face using her arm, but both of them were sore and there was a shooting pain in her left shoulder. Deciding that it was best to just lie there for a while, she turned her head as far as her shoulder would allow and asked him, "How did you end up… doing this?"

Naruto stared at her with tears dripping off of his chin, but nary a sound of distress escaped his lips other than his reply, in which he said, "I have always done this… I don't m'member (remember)."

She sucked in shallow breaths of air, as if she was about to start wailing again, but she tightened her lips and closed her eyes, trying to keep herself from feeling pity or sorrow for herself. She could always do that later once she was out of this deathtrap. "I see," she said, her finger tips feeling around the bed, wondering if she had been raped here on this bed as well. She only remembered bits and pieces after Ping's initial assault, he made sure to hit her with everything he had any time she decided to let out anything louder than a whimper.

She heard Naruto moving and searching through a bag that she hadn't noticed he was carrying. She opened her eyes to look at him as he stepped up to her and held a small jar of cream in front of her.

"I brought you some ointment. For the burns."

She swallowed a deep, but sharp breath of air as she let out the lightest of chuckles at the way he talked. _He has problems saying his 'r's still,_ she thought.

"Thank you… is your name really Naruto?" While waiting for his answer, she looked around her body and noticed that several burn marks left a trail of Ping's actions from before. Looking out through a small, barred window up above their heads, Yuu wondered how long she had been unconscious and whether or not she had a chance of escaping. She remembered what her father told her often, usually applying the saying to his business or business in general, but it was remarkably fitting for her current situation: '_As long as you're still alive, you've always got a chance!'_

Naruto nodded in response to her question about his name and opened the jar as he began to elaborate over how he received that name. "Yup. One of the old geezers named me after the little fish thingies you get in ramen noodles. I've only had them once and they were really really good. Before that, everyone just called me 'kid' or 'punk'. Sometimes 'lil shit'."

She let out a laugh, but the bruises along her ribcage and the damaged shoulder made her hiss out in pain. She could almost feel the burns along her body, but the pain was so all-encompassing that she couldn't quite pinpoint them without looking directly at them, and she barely had the strength to lift her head up from her pillow, much less sit upright long enough to access the damage done to her body.

"You should rest… I can put the cream if you want, or you can do it later. I also got you some bread." He started rummaging in his little leather knapsack again until he took out a still-warm piece of bread with butter soaked into it. Yuu watched as the young boy walked over to her and pulled off a piece of the bread and held it up to her, "Here, take it. There's more if you want some."

Painfully, Yuu lifted her arm up and reached for the bread, but once she had it she tightened her grip too much and broke it by accident, dropping some of it on the floor while the rest collapsed back onto the bed along with her arm.

Naruto looked down at the piece that had fallen on the ground and said, "That's OK," he then picked it up and blew on it before grinning and taking a large bite, talking with his mouth full, "I'll eat this. There's more anyways." Naruto then quickly stuffed the rest into his mouth and took the piece that was in her open hand and took a smaller chunk out of it, holding it up to her lips for her to eat. "I can feed you like this, big sis."

Yuu's eyes watched the young boy with mixed emotions flashing through them. She wanted to hate the boy for leading her here to this terrible place, but she also felt like she couldn't just blame him either. He was so young and he was only doing what he was told to do. He didn't understand that what Ping had done to her was wrong, or if he did, he probably felt helpless to stop the man from doing it, and only went along because his life was being threatened. Or maybe the boy's sense of empathy was skewered because of the life that he lived. She couldn't be sure.

Her lips parted to allow him to feed her and she decided that she would put her faith into this young boy. She'd believe that he was really a good person, and that he wouldn't grow up to be like Ping one day, because that was the best that she could hope for him at the moment. When he pulled his hand away, she chewed on the soft buttery center of the salted bread. She chewed very slowly; some dark place in the back of her mind told her that the boy had come back to poison her.

She sobbed right before she chewed, another tear following the trails of the others that had made their way down the side of her face past her ear.

Naruto watched her the entire time, sitting beside her as he waited for her to finish before holding another piece of bread in front of her lips. They didn't talk for the longest time, but finally, when the bread was all gone, Yuu looked up at the boy and she smiled, her eyebrows drawn close together as she gazed at him sorrowfully. "I didn't mean what I said back there… or rather, I wish I could take it back… you're not a monster." She slowly looked away as she tried her hardest to quell the anger that was boiling deep inside of her. She wasn't going to get out of this predicament by blaming an eight year old boy. All that calling him a monster would do would make certain that he couldn't be anything but.

Naruto looked at the young woman for the longest time before he started to cry. This time, however, his entire face and body matched the weeping sounds that bounced off of the walls within the dark room.

oOo

Ping, luckily for them, had lost interest in the young girl. He found himself worrying more about turf wars and dealing with the increased metal-bending police presence that had managed to set up a stronger network within their territory, making certain locations too hot to handle, so to speak. He never went back to check up on the girl to at least see if she was even still alive. He also didn't care for either of his accomplices, so cutting the string that connected the three of them seemed like a good enough idea at the time. After all, Mei was a stronger bender than he was and he wasn't about to try and tangle with that woman just to try and get a lay. It was better if he just went and joined up with another group deeper into the city.

Within a few days, even Mei, the woman who had played as his wife, ditched the small, abandoned home and left Naruto there with the young, sixteen year old girl. Naruto, meanwhile, stayed to watch over Yuu as she recovered, bringing her food and water when he was able to steal it or beg for enough Yuans to cover the price. With a little bit of practice, he found that stealing from some of the other children that were put out there was a generally profitable venture, so he did that from time to time, though he always made sure to wear something over his face and head so that they didn't recognize him. The last thing he needed was someone out there looking for 'that blond little shit, Naruto' because he had pinched a few Yuans from their kids' beggar's profits.

oOo

Yuu, after three more days, was finally able to get out of bed. She decided that it was time to leave.

Now, she probably could have sent Naruto for help a long time before this, but she felt like she would just get yelled at by her father, and she was worried that he might think it was her fault because he had always talked unapprovingly about the way she dressed. It wasn't that what she wore was bad or 'slutty', but he just didn't understand because women during his generation usually wore those long robes and dresses and rarely showed any skin, even along the arms or legs. He moved to Republic City from a small community of farmers, merchants and craftsmen that worked together and he brought with him extremely reserved notions of sexuality and self-expression. He always hated that she wore that skirt she wore because it didn't cover her knees. He also didn't like that she wore heels or the way that she liked to let her hair down.

She loved her father, but she knew that he was the last person who was be understanding about the current situation. She didn't have any other family here in Republic City, so Yuu would just have to go straight to the police after she went back home.

Then again, that wasn't the first thing on her mind. She worried, most of all, about becoming pregnant. Looking at the young blond boy as he sat asleep in his chair beside her bed, Yuu prayed that she wasn't, because she didn't want to have a son or daughter like Naruto; she didn't want her child to go through what he has had to go through.

oOo

When they stood outside of her father's shop, Yuu stared in through the glass to see her father sitting at one of the tables that they had for sale as he looked over some of his business expenses and tried to focus on the task at hand, though she could tell that he had been crying.

"It's been five days, hasn't it?" Yuu asked without turning to look at Naruto who was standing off to the side, hiding from view.

"Yup… six tomorrow morning."

Yuu nodded, "I see."

They stood there in silence for a while before Yuu turned to look at the young boy and walked over to him. His eyes widened when she dropped down onto her knees and wrapped her arms around him, whispering 'thank you' as she tried to keep from sobbing again. She was so conflicted about being nice to him that she was shaking as she held him, wanting nothing more than to throttle him and yell at him for tricking her, but she also struggled to refrain from kissing him on the cheek for taking care of her afterwards. She would have probably died due to the extensive burns that she had received from Ping and the lack of food that she would have suffered had he not been around to treat those ailments with ointment and buttered bread.

That was another thing, he always made sure to get her something tasty, settling with cheaper, cold bread without butter or salt for himself unless she offered him some of the one that he brought for her. Then he gladly ate whatever she offered, just like a kid would.

She had to laugh, because he was so funny, so nice, and so strange. Any sort of anger or resentment that she might have had toward him slowly ebbed away, the more she thought about what had happened.

Yuu smiled and gave him the kiss on the cheek anyways, saying, "OK… promise me that, no matter what, you never try and trick anyone like that ever again. Always think about what will happen before you do something like that, because then they'll suffer, and then you'll have to cry over it just like you cried over me, OK? And most of the time, things won't blow over like they did this time around… we're both lucky, you know."

He nodded, crying still as she smiled softly at him, wiping away his tears with the back of her hand.

"And promise me that you will always keep your word, no matter what, because your word is more important than anything else in this world."

"OK."

"Say, 'I promise'."

"I promise."

"I can't take care of you, but I can give you a free meal every once in a while. Just stop by whenever you want to talk to me, OK?"

Naruto nodded and said, "Big sis, I'm so sorry. I didn't want anyone to hurt you. I thought… I thought…"

Yuu smiled solemnly and said, "But they did hurt me. And that's why I want you to remember what I told you, your promise, and I also want you to stay away from that evil man and those gangsters. They're nothing but trouble. I'll see what I can do about getting you help, but for now you're going to have to live on your own for a while… I'm sorry." She turned to look into the shop and said, "My father will just kick you out anyways… I can't bring you in, so just stop by and pretend like you're window shopping next time, OK?" She grinned and turned to him, her eyes watery. "He'll be pissed if you don't buy anything, but he won't bug you for just looking."

Naruto nodded fervently, his eyes completely serious as he said, "Thank you, big sis! Your dad is coming, I gotta go!" He spun around suddenly, running just before the door opened and her father called out her name, tears of joy in his eyes as he extended his arms out toward his daughter as she knelt there on the pavement.

"Yuu! Oh Yuu! Where have you been? I've been worried sick?" Her father grabbed her fiercely, making her hiss in pain before he asked her what had happened. She wondered if he would understand, her eyes boring into his for quite some time before she just shook her head and offered him a smile.

_He didn't need to know what happened just yet…_

oOo

(Five Years Later – Streets of Republic City)

"Hey! You little fucker!"

"Wh-whoa, what's up man?"

"That little shit stole my pocketwatch!"

"What, that girl over there?"

"No, you dipshit! That blond kid running up the steps there! C'mon, he's not getting away!"

Groaning, Naruto huffed it up the steps to get as much distance from the two men as possible. He could have ran straight but he didn't want to be anywhere near the police headquarters with this chase going on. Turning into a small market, he cut around several buildings trying to get some distance between him and the two men that were chasing him. Naruto snickered as he continued to run, turning on another road just to make sure that they weren't behind him.

However, when he looked up he noticed that one of them was riding an ice wave as he followed closely alongside Naruto while on the roofs of the shops and other establishments that lined the road he was running on.

"Shit!" he cursed, his eyes catching the sinister leer of the man riding the wave above his head. "I knew that he was a gangster but I didn't think he was from the Triple Threats." Naruto turned to look over his shoulder as he ran and noticed that the one he had stolen the watch from originally was following further behind them by using the ground to propel him forward with each leap he took.

"Two benders…" Naruto growled and saw someone walking out of one of the shops up ahead with a giant vase in his arms. Naruto changed his trajectory, causing his two pursuers to tense up as they watched him carefully. When Naruto leapt over the shopkeeper's head and went _into_ his antiques shop, however, neither one of the two gangsters thought much of it. The earthbender yelled up ahead, saying, "Hey! We've got him trapped now! Get in there, quick!"

Nodding, the waterbender made a ramp of ice that went straight into the shop, knocking the shopkeeper on his bottom as he blasted right past him. The man yelped as he started to fumble around with the giant vase until he was finally able to clutch onto it with both his arms and his legs in order to secure it from falling to the floor and possibly breaking.

As soon as the waterbender made it through the front door, he crashed into a large set of shelves made out of wood and glass in order to showcase several smaller items that were sold in the store. The stand was made of glass shelves and wooden frame and it toppled over easily as the waterbender bounced off of it, flipping mid-air and eventually ended up landing over on the other side of the front counter in the store. He crashed upside down, just missing the soft, cushioned seat that rolled out of the way harmlessly after he hit the sturdy wall and collapsed onto the ground with a groan.

Naruto snickered and threw a small porcelain figurine at the man, nailing him right on the side of his forehead. Without missing a beat, he jumped over the counter, sprung upwards and kicked off of a wall so that he could crawl up through a small window that was very close to the ceiling. It was barely large enough for his thirteen year old body to squeeze through, one arm at a time, and yet the boy easily made it through.

"Holy shit, really?" The brown haired waterbender just stared up at the small window, gaping in astonishment at the young boy's speed and maneuverability. That window was _high_ up! He'd need a ladder to get up there if he didn't have bending, but even if he did try and go through the window he knew _he _wasn't going to fit through it.

Suddenly, the earthbender rushed into the shop and snarled, "Oenlok, where is he?!" There was a flame in his dark green eyes as he gripped tightly onto the door frame to keep him from moving and levelling the entire shop out of sheer fury at this damn kid.

Oenlok tilted his head toward the window as he stood up onto his feet, "He scrambled out through there. That kid is something else, Shi."

Snarling, Shi looked rather vicious as his hands gripped the door frame so hard that it bent the metal using sheer strength. He whipped his long hair back and yelled back at Oenlok, saying, "You're right about one thing: he's just a kid! A _dead_ one!" When Shi took off running after where he thought the blond kid might have scurried off to, Oenlok rolled his eyes and rushed out of the shop, shrugging as he took off onto the rooftops by using water bending to create a short ice bridge that quickly melted away and returned to his water flask at his hip when the shopkeeper ran after him for a second swinging a broom back and forth at him as he yelled for him to pay for the damages.

"Go to hell, old man!" he called out, his voice gradually fading away into the distance as he got farther and farther away.

oOo

Groaning, Naruto looked up at the Republic City Police headquarters that he was trying to avoid in the first place. He knew he would have to stay nearby if he wanted to get out of this alive. He told himself to remind him later if he survived that he should do more scouting before picking any particular target, but this asshole really deserved it. And bender or not, Naruto was going to pay this bastard back for overall… bastardiness.

_Is bastardiness a word? Tardiness is, so bastardiness should be one._

"You've got nowhere else to run kid."

Naruto smirked and turned around, pointing at the earthbender and saying, "Wow, you must be seven levels of dumbass to follow me here to Police HQ. Are you really standing there ready to earthbend? I'd put that stance back in your pocket if I were you, Mr. Triple Teets."

Arching a brow, Shi crossed his arms and said, "Well, all I'll have to do is turn you in, won't I? That watch is mine and the police will be able to tell since you obviously couldn't afford that kind of thing and I'm sure you had no family who could've passed it down to you."

Rolling his eyes, Naruto said, "I may be a kid, but you're a known gangster. Who are the po-po going to believe, an innocent, starving little kid or a ruthless drug peddling nutsack like you!? Hah? I don't hear youuuuuu…."

Yeah, he was just stalling for time. And also trying to get the guy to do something stupid, but he hoped to heaven and hell that someone would walk out of the building in a moment. Why the hell was it so vacant out there right now? Not one person was anywhere near the HQ… was there some sort of ceremony or something going on right now?

Right when Shi was about to try something, Oenlok landed behind the kid and grabbed him, "Alright, let's just take your damn watch back and get the hell out of here! If someone walks out here they're gonna think you're about to hurt this kid or something!"

Shi muttered something along the lines of, "Who said I wasn't?" when he heard something land directly behind him.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock and he grumbled, "_Oh shit, not her…"_

"What is the meaning of this?"

Shi turned around to see a slightly younger Lin Beifong standing with her arms crossed as her dark green eyes levelled with Shi's, making him flinch slightly. She wore the standard police wear, but she carried herself like she was a commander and the buck stopped with her. Slowly, she turned to look at Oenlok who immediately let go of the young blond in his custody and took a step back from him, saying, "Oh, hi there Miss Beifong. Sorry, we're just getting something that this little punk stole from us. It's worth a lot of money and the brat pinched it when he bumped into us on the street."

Shi turned to give Oenlok the look that he had been blabbing too much and then looked back at Beifong, waiting to hear her reaction to it all.

"That is Officer Beifong to you. If you wish for me to respect you then you will respect me and address me properly."

"Ah! Ah! Sorry, sorry. _Officer_ Beifong… well, you know what's going on already."

Lin looked down at Naruto and her left eyebrow perked up just a bit when she saw the blank look on his face. _Damn this kid has got a good poker face._

"Are you sure you didn't just drop this _watch_? What does it look like and when did you last see it?"

"It's a high quality gold with a custom face. It's probably one of a kind, actually."

"One of a kind, you say?" Beifong remarked, nodding with an acknowledging look on her face. "I see. I can understand why you would be so worried about losing it… but how do you know this young boy took your watch?"

"Listen, just check him and you'll see he's got it on him. We know because I lost it right when he bumped into us and we checked the floor already before we started chasing after him."

Beifong sighed, "Nice watch or not, I don't really have the time for this. Fine, young man," she said, turning to look at Naruto with her green eyes lightening up like the color in her irises was boiling, "This is your last chance to give up the watch if you have it before I check… I can't help you if you have it on your person."

Naruto nodded and said, "These jerks have been chasing me for like ten minutes already… they wrecked a shop trying to get to me and they were about to do something ugly before you got here. I'm glad you can prove that I'm innocent already!"

Beifong narrowed her eyes, "Are you sure?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Just check already, old lady!"

Glaring, Beifong stomped her foot on the ground and used earthbending to bring the boy right in front of her at eyelevel, where she grabbed him by the front of his orange jacket and pulled him close, her eyes burning through his skull as she said, "Show some respect, brat!"

"Are you gonna do your job already ya old hag or should I just get naked here and shake out my clothes?! Huh?!" Naruto glared back, unflinching even while both Shi and Oenlok reeled backwards as if they had been struck.

Beifong almost snarled as she used her earthbending to sense where the watch was on his person. When she didn't find it, she turned to look at Oenlok and used her metalbending to lift the golden watch up above his head before she brought it over to her for a closer inspection. Shi turned to gawk at Oenlok who just shook his head and muttered incoherent words as he tried to explain that it wasn't him who stole the watch.

"This _is_ custom made. In fact, I know whose watch this is. You two should have cut your losses." Beifong narrowed her eyes before she sent her metal rods after the two benders, striking them each in vital points before wrapping them up as they fell down to the ground.

She then turned to look at Naruto and narrowed her eyes, "How do you always get yourself into trouble, Naruto?"

The teenager shrugged and offered a squinted-eyed grin as he threw his arms up above his head and crossed them behind his neck as he kicked at the dirt. "Hey, you know how it is, huh? I think I'm just lucky."

Beifong smirked and rolled her eyes, "Yeah, _some_ kind of lucky."

"So whose watch is it, Big Sis?"

Beifong wouldn't admit it, but she preferred it immensely whenever Naruto called her that as opposed to "old hag" or "old lady". He seemed to have a penchant for getting himself into all kinds of trouble, and one of his best tools for facilitating that trouble were all of the snarky remarks that came out of that big mouth of his.

"It belongs to a friend of mine. I'm glad you returned it to me. He said he looked everywhere but he couldn't find it…" She looked at the pretty watch in her palm and smirked as she shook her head, "It was very expensive."

"I see…" he muttered, a slight grin appearing on his face for only an instant before he started to walk off, kicking his legs up in the air a bit as he pranced around on the stone walkway they were standing on; he seemed to be playing some sort of game where he could only step on the horizontal stones and not on the vertical ones, "Well, I didn't return it to you anyways, _they _did. Dumbasses!" Naruto stuck his tongue out at Shi who was still reeling from having his boys rocked.

"Did you have to hit them in the balls though?" Naruto asked, turning to look up at Lin who had a strange smirk on her lips.

"No." It was all she said, and Naruto had to slowly look away unless he wanted to crap his pants. This lady gave off a crazy freaking vibe sometimes… one that said, _It's not that I can't kill you… and_ _I don't have to kill you… but if you piss me off then you'll wish I did._

"O-K." Naruto said, trying to move on now that everything was settled. "Anyways, later Big Sis! Gonna go find something to eat."

Lin looked after him for a moment before she used earthbending to bounce the boy back over to where she was standing and said, "Keep an eye on them, I'm going to go get someone who'll book them and investigate the shop that they wrecked and you and I can go grab a bite to eat."

Naruto turned to look at the green eyed woman and smiled when she added, "My treat."

"OK! Whatever you say, Big Sis!"

Naruto watched her leave and grinned impishly as he reached into his jacket and pulled out two wallets full of Yuans and emptied them before tucking them under the pair of criminals who just stared at him in shock.

Shi let out a loud yell, "You little… You've _got_ to be kidding me!" _That snaky son of a bitch snuck off with their wallets as well? When the hell had he pulled that one off?_

"Great Avatar…" said the waterbending Oenlok as a tear fell from his each of his eyes, "Please revive and come smite this boy where he stands."

"Let him try," Naruto whispered, tucking the folded Yuan notes into his jacket before looking back toward the HQ. He grinned and then put on his 'cute and innocent face' as he stood with his arms crossed behind his back, waiting patiently while he stood in front of the two 'criminals'.

oOo

"Big Sis! How'd you know I liked ramen?!" Naruto let out a happy squeal as he pulled the giant red bowl closer to him, nearly spilling some of it on the front of his jacket as the broth swayed back and forth in the bowl.

"We've come here before, don't you remember?" Lin asked, rolling her eyes when she realized he wasn't paying attention and rather he was just slurping up the green noodles like his mouth was a vacuum.

After a while, the young boy sighed happily and pushed the bowl away, leaving the chopsticks inside as he swallowed what was left of the ramen broth inside of his mouth. "That was… aaaawesome!"

Smirking, Lin said, "Alright then. Now it's time for us to talk."

Naruto arched a brow and frowned, crossing his arms on the top of the table as he rested his chin along the top of them. "Ok, shoot."

"Well, first of all, I'm glad that you helped me get my friend's watch back from those thugs. It would've been hocked in a day or two, I'm sure, and then my friend would be without this watch that I… I mean, I would have to file a police report and all that, you know how it goes…" Lin groaned. She never stumbled unless she was talking about that kooky old man. God, if _he_ was old, what did that make her?

"Ah, so you got it for him as a gift or something a while back? Is he your friend-friend or just a friend?" Naruto asked, holding up a pinky as he gave her a wink.

Beifong growled and grabbed him by his collar saying, "Don't misunderstand me, brat. He's just a friend."

Naruto laughed and nodded, rolling his eyes, "Yeah, definitely an ex-boyfriend. I know about these things, ya know. I've done _it_ already, you know?"

Lin eyed the boy curiously as she leaned in, looking him straight in the eyes. He didn't flinch though, so she reeled and muttered _damn_. _Freaking kid has the sturdiest poker face I've ever seen._ She didn't want to believe him, because if he had then that was… a little sad. A little boy like that already lost his virginity? Was it with a girl that he liked or was it some hooker that wanted to see what it was like messing around with such a young, lonesome little boy?

"You're serious, huh? Wow kid. I've got to admit, if your balls were anymore steely, I could bend them up and smack you across the chin with them."

Grinning, Naruto said, "Thanks Big Sis. I know, I'm told stuff like that a lot."

Lin felt some maternal instincts tickle her rib cage a little, but she mercilessly killed that butterfly feeling and just rolled her eyes, saying, "I swear kid, you surprise me more and more every time I see you… anyways, we're off-topic." She leaned in again, uncrossing her arms as she pointed at him with one hand while the other hand slapped the surface of the table to get his attention. "Now listen here, I don't want you running around stealing from all of these gangsters anymore. Scratch that: I don't want you stealing, _period_."

Naruto arched a brow and said, "Stealing? What the hell? I don't steal from anyone! What do you take me for, Big Sis? Some little thief?"

Narrowing her eyes, Lin Beifong muttered, "Little kid, little squirt, little brat… however you want to put it.

"OK, well, whatever."

"Promise me," Beifong said, looking at him seriously.

Naruto's poker face suddenly dropped like a brick wall collapsing. He looked at her seriously for a moment before saying, "I… I can't promise you…"

"Naruto, please…"

Lin Beifong was not ready for him to stand up and slam his hands down on the table, "It's the only way I know how to live, alright! Don't take this away from me… I already promised someone special that I would _think_ about the consequences of my actions before I did them!"

"_Well_," Lin scoffed, glaring back at the young boy to match the glare that he was giving her, "Did you _stop and think_ about the owner of that shop that was wrecked? I haven't gone to assess the damage, but I'm sure it's going to come out to a lot! What, you didn't think through that far ahead?"

Naruto's glare was rock-steady. He crossed his arms and sat back down, pouting, "I _did_ think that far… trust me, it's going to get taken care of."

Beifong rolled her eyes, "Whatever kid. You are just trying to justify this bad act of yours. Well, it's not working. You ought to know better than to be stealing from people, especially when you have someone like me who-"

"Who what, _huh_?!" Naruto yelled, an ugly scowl on his face. "Someone… _like you_… who's caring for me? _Watching out for me?_ Well fuck you, you old hag. I don't need your damn help or your damn ramen!" He then stood up and walked right out of the ramen shop while Lin just rubbed her temples at his loud outburst in the middle of the restaurant.

"Shit kid… you talk that big talk and you still walk out on the bill…" She rolled her eyes and leaned over onto one palm, balancing her increasingly heavy head with her arm as she stared off into the distance.

"Is everything alright?" asked a young waitress who walked up with the bill in hand.

"Yeah yeah, just drop the bill and leave me alone for a second…" After a few seconds, Lin Beifong sighed and said, "I'm sure he was just making a big deal out of it so that he _could_ skip out on paying. What a little shit."

Laughing, Lin paid the check and walked out, heading over to find out what was going to happen with that shop that was wrecked.

oOo

Ok, now she was having a fucking headache.

"So… wait a second… you're saying that someone paid for the damages?"

"Yeah, and get this, the shop owner said that the stand that was knocked down didn't have any merchandise on it, so none of it except this glass and wood display piece was actually broken. Oh, and one figurine, but he said that it was inexpensive… something around 10 Yuans. I think he said that he received about three thousand Yuans… should we confiscate it as evidence?"

Lin Beifong frowned and rolled her eyes, "No, I do not think that is necessary… I'm going to talk to the shop keeper. Did you already get a written statement to cover our hides?"

"Yessir! First thing I got. Uhm, he said that the money came in through that window up there by the way, hanging from a string."

Rolling her eyes, Beifong walked outside of the shop and climbed up the cobble steps until she was peeking in through the small window that was near the floor of the level she stood on. She looked at the dirt ground and saw two little wavy prints that she was pretty sure matched the size of the blond brat.

"So… he really did have it covered." Lin smirked and swept her foot over the footprints on the floor before walking back around and downstairs to talk with the shopkeeper.

oOo

Naruto sat at a bar with his left hand popping cashews into his mouth from a small bowl sitting on the treated pine. He looked over at his 'friend' and said, "Hey, are you done drinking yet? You told me that you were going to show me how to paint the female figure."

The white haired old dog smirked and leaned over, saying, "Well my boy, you certainly came to the right man! I am the legendary, masterful, erotic, stoic, rambunctious and scrumdiddlyumptious Master Jiraiya! No one knows more about the womanly figure than myself, _inside_ and out!"

Groaning, Naruto said, "Whatever, you perverted old fart. I haven't been taking this art classes with you to tag along on your little binge-drinking adventures. I'm here because you said you could paint and that you were offering classes on how to paint women."

Jiraiya smirked and reached over for a bottle of beer, saying, "Listen, kid, why do you even want to know how to draw women anyways? You don't strike me as the type of guy who is into the artsy smartsy stuff. Maybe, at most, some doodling but…" He rolled his shoulders and made a face that said, _Well, I guess even fish want to fly… otherwise why the hell do they jump so high anyways? I'm pretty sure that saying ends bad… not sure, don't remember all of it._

And Naruto saw every bit of that expression and could read it like fucking pamphlet. "Hey, quit trying to think so hard or you're going to blow a fuse in there." Naruto pointed up at the old man's skull and said, "It must be hard for your old ass heart to keep pumping blood to your brain since you're so tall… and most of it is probably going to your groin anyways."

Rolling his eyes, Jiraiya smacked the kid on the top of the head with his beer bottle as he turned around in his seat and stood up. Chugging back the drink, Jiraiya was oblivious to Naruto's furious slew of curse words that he spat at the old man, trying to get his attention to get him to apologize for smacking him on the head.

"Thank you for the drinks, Gai, keep my youthful tab open, will ya?" Jiraiya asked, grinning widely at the bowl-cut wearing man who was busy pouring drinks while doing a handstand with only a single hand while he used the other to pour.

"Ha! Yes, Master Jiraiya! Please come back and join us and our youthful bar again soon… ah! Lee! Get away from that bottle! I told you to wipe down the tables, not drink people's leftovers!"

Naruto rolled his eyes and grabbed what was left of the cashews in the small bowl before following Jiraiya out of the bar.

"You're not gonna pay him back are you?" Naruto asked, narrowing his eyes at the old fart.

"Meh, whenever I get some extra cash I will. I've been going there for a while and he hasn't asked me for it yet, so whatever."

Naruto glared. "You're exploiting his kindness… I should bust your kneecaps."

Jiraiya smirked, "You think you're tough shit, don't you, kid? I'll have you know that I was a mean old toad back in the day. Well, mean… spry tadpole, I guess, but I'm definitely a … eh… huh, guess I didn't think that one all of the way through."

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Whatever. You're an artist. What the hell do you know about living out on the streets you old coot?"

Jiraiya chuckled and said, "I guess you're right about that, you spry tadpole you."

The troublesome duo walked for the longest time in the dark until finally they stopped in front of a three story building with red lights coming from inside.

"Where the hell are we?"

"Oh-ho! So little Naruto doesn't know about this place, does he?"

"Not really." Naruto looked around and then glared at the old man. "You better not be trying anything, you perverted old shit."

"Quit cussing, you don't get bigger balls doing it, kid."

Crossing his arms, Naruto looked away and said, "I'll cuss if I want to fucking cuss, you fat piece of fuck with melted cunt hair on top."

Bonking him on the head, Jiraiya laughed sinisterly as he crept into the building just before throwing his arms out above his head in a loud gesture as he called out, "Ladies! Your almighty Lord Jiraiya has come back to rescue you from the tyranny of these sad and lonely men!"

"Jiraiya!" "Master Jiraiya!" "Ji-ji!"

"Agh! Hey, listen, I fucking hate when you call me Ji-ji, Anko! Quit that shit, alright?"

Naruto elbowed the old man in the rib and said, "_Your _balls must be as big as they were when you were born. Scratch that, they're probably all old and shriveled up by now and they look like raisins barely hanging in there on the vine."

Jiraiya glared and said, "Oi, listen up kid. If you keep talking about my junk I'm going to whip it out and scar you for life, because these balls are so big and juicy you won't be able to tell if they're testicles or fucking grapefruits! Just ask any of these pretty ladies here."

"Ji-ji!" Anko smirked and wrapped her arms around his waist as she crashed into him, "It's been so long… why were you gone for so long? Did you travel the world like you said you would?"

"Yes cutie-pie, and guess what? I even brought you a little gift!"

Anko squealed and started searching under his coat, saying, "Where? Where is it? A souvenir? From where?"

Naruto just stared at the two of them as Jiraiya smirked back at him and said, not looking away from the blond as he raised his eyebrows together to accentuate the knowing look. "Oh, you'll see. They're nice and big too, and juicy."

Slapping his face, Naruto just shook his head and said, "Listen, old man, how are we supposed to study a woman's figure here? Do you even have any painting supplies?"

"Jeez kid… you're denser than a freaking meteorite aren't you? Don't you worry. Just leave that up to Master… no, Lord Jiraiya!"

Laughing out loud, Jiraiya picked Anko up and swung her around before landing her back on her feet and leaning in close to her ear. He whispered very specific directions to her and the blushing young woman smiled and said, "You got it, Ji-ji, but it's gonna cost you!"

"Oh, money isn't an issue tonight, my sweet little daffodil."

_Blegchkk! _Naruto opened his mouth and made like he was going to force himself to throw up.

Smirking, Jiraiya watched as Anko walked off and Naruto walked up to him.

"So what is going on then?"

Jiraiya smirked and said, "Shhh… just… enjoy the moment… and watch."

The nameless establishment was not very well known by the criminal underworld, as it was privately owned by a woman who never showed her face and never allowed just any customer in. Many of the escorts and entertainers here were benders as well, making this a ridiculously difficult place to try and start anything funny in. And when an order was given, that was that and anything could happen. Jiraiya even remembered witnessing a murder here, but he knew no one was ever going to say anything. Not if they valued their lives and those of their loved ones.

Right now, however, there were probably close to forty patrons in the entire building, first, second and third floors. What Naruto saw next stole his breath away.

Suddenly, every man who had come to partake in these women's services, whether they be important politicians or criminal druglord, was kicked out without another word. Some of them tried to complain, but they reminded them just who they were dealing with. After all, the other thing that made this place so dangerous was that, to partake, one had to give up all important personal information including address, date of birth, citizen identification number and all other pertinent information.

Naruto would have wondered if he had to give anything, but apparently Jiraiya was well liked in the establishment, so the young boy was treated as a special guest and never actually found out about the stringent requirements of this particular brothel.

The blond watched as the last of them scurried out of the brothel, some of them naked still and pulling on articles of clothing as they hobbled outside the door. Naruto turned to look at Jiraiya for a second until he saw the white haired man pointing back at the door.

When Naruto turned to look again he blushed at the sight in front of him. Over twenty-five women, each gorgeous and intriguing in their own distinct ways, lined up along the door as the lock was clicked shut. Naruto couldn't help himself, he just pointed at three random girls and said, "OK, you, you and you. Oh, and you… and you and… oh my god… you. You. And you… Jiraiya, can I have all of them…? Please? I'll carry your balls from now on in a bucket if you let me. You've got balls so big that I swear you could use them to keep you afloat out on the sea."

"That's right, you little shit. And don't you forget it!" Jiraiya grinned and waved the girls over as they surrounded the two men and led them away into a private lounge in the back with a stage in the center.

Naruto wiped a tear from his eye and said, "I knew it. I died in my sleep this morning didn't I? I thought it was a nightmare, this whole day, but then… this… and the stage and the women and the… oh my god, are those two kissing?"

Jiraiya smirked and dropped down onto the center of the very long couch and groaned as Anko sat right on his lap and three other girls surrounded him, talking into his ear and asking him what he wanted to drink or if he required any special services that night.

When a pretty black haired girl with chocolate brown eyes came up to him and said, "You're too cute… I bet you've never seen these before."

Naruto, of course, kept his poker face on the entire time as she unbuttoned her blouse and let the twins out for his personal inspection. He only said, "Nope… never seen anything like that before… never. Gotta look closer… closer…"

oOo

Needless to say, they spent that night learning _everything_ there was to know about the human figure. In the back of his mind, Naruto thought that maybe he should be worried about just how this was all going to be paid for but… nah, Jiraiya was good for it, right?

They tried to paint, they really did. But most of the paint missed the canvas somehow and ended up on the models. How odd.

oOo

In two years, Naruto was a master painter and had a tongue built for persuasion. He learned many things under Jiraiya's tutelage, but one of the most interesting things that he learned how to do was forgery.

Naruto spent the next three years, from age sixteen to eighteen, learning how to forge signatures, bank notes, wills and testaments, search warrants, medicine prescriptions and other things. Even counterfeiting Yuans became a meaningful hobby to him for a while.

Meanwhile, he also honed his pickpocketing skills further, learning how to swipe coins without even having to really squeeze his palm. He learned about misdirection and about the power of suggestion, about the formula that was required to instill both joy and fear into someone's heart. Naruto had ascended past the label of the 'thief' and was now a pocket assassin. He pinched whole crowds without even a single witness, and could even steal the shirt off of someone's back if he was really motivated to do it.

Naruto's painting ability actually drew in some funds for him to get started on living on honest life, but he found that the more he tried to get away from his past as a scoundrel the harder it pulled him right back.

He didn't mind that, really. He just wanted to live his life in quiet and away from the groups that he knew would ruin his life. He visited Yuu from time to time, but she moved on. Apparently she told her father about the rape and the police couldn't do anything about it. Naruto still felt obliged to the young woman for ruining that portion of her life, and possibly the rest of the life that she had left by making the mistake of leading her to that house.

Naruto always hoped that one day Yuu would love him, as he loved her. But the more he visited, the more obvious it was that she had become just more and more hollow. He tried bringing it up once, telling her how he felt, but his tongue flip-flopped in his mouth and tied itself up into a knot and he couldn't say anything. He held her hand and listened to her when she told him she was going to move away from Republic City. Her father had recently passed away and she had no reason to stay there. She decided that she was going to move back to her home with her family and see if she couldn't start a new life there.

She even asked him to join her, and Naruto realized at that moment that this was his chance for him to find happiness with her. To settle down and get away from the terrible life that he had led, because leading a girl to her rapist wasn't the worst thing he had done in his life.

Naruto gave her his most sincere smile and declined. She said she'd miss him, but knew that he wouldn't be able to go with her. She just wanted to 'put it out there'.

When she was gone, so was Naruto's ambition. All of the energy and spark that Naruto had fled Republic City with that beautiful, yet tragic young woman. He did give up 'the life' for a short while. That is, until the anti-bending movement, known as the Equalist Movement, shifted the underworld into a whole new dynamic that no one had ever imagined before. Then, a few months after the 'Movement' went public, Avatar Korra made her announcement in Republic City.

oOo

**Author: **Hey there. Hope you like my new story. I am not done with Gilded Hero, but I really needed to get this dark out before I could start putting the funny back in (Notice it start to come back with Jiraiya? Lol). Otherwise, I'd make Gilded more than what it needs to be and I don't really want to do that.

This story is a 'drop Naruto and co' in TLOK universe and see what happens… except I have a good idea of where it's going and I don't plan on making this very long.

Please let me know what you think of Naruto and his 'abilities'. I didn't want to make him a bender because I think that sets up for a formula that I will eventually have to follow to make sense of the story (like I would in Gilded because he's so freaking strong after that point in the Manga).

I tried to think what he would be like without the 'Kyuubi' (note: sort of) and in a world where all he wants is to find something to hold onto. Yuu was going to be that something, but to make the story interesting I've thrown her out of the picture for now. I believe her actions after the act were the only thing that she could do, because she's the good hearted type of person who didn't see Naruto only a 'monster', and rather realized that he was also a victim of the world in which he lives in. Calling him a monster was also a parallel to the actual series where all of the adults in Konoha seem to think that he is the Kyuubi, the Killer 9 tailed fox, and not Naruto, an orphan boy just trying to find someone to latch onto.

I even gave Naruto his self-defense mechanisms that he seemed to have in the beginning of the original series where he acts out and does certain things, and I feel like I justified his mantra of staying true to his word and not backing down and all that, which he shows some of with Beifong.

Anyways, thank you for reading, sorry for the long note, but I also want to express that if you have any questions then people ask them in a review or go to ~NarutoLovesKorra on deviantArt and ask me there :) We have some cool artwork if you guys want to take a look and favorite/watch us there too :D!


	2. Chapter 2

**Warning**: Rated M for cursing, killing, maiming/mutilating, and overall nastiness.

_"There are heroes in evil as well as in good."_ – Francois de La Rochefoucauld

oOo

"Hello Republic City. My name is Korra." She took a breath and spoke confidently into the microphone with a small smile on her face, "I am your new Avatar!"

The crowd cheered and cameras flashed from all directions. These photographers were trying to capture the monumental moment on film so that they could spread the news and sell the once-in-a-lifetime photos of the Avatar in this point of her life. Within the crowd, many other spectators rambled on, talking amongst one another about how incredible it was to have the Avatar back in Republic City after so many years.

One tall, blond man stood in the crowd in a bright summer yukata that was tied at the waist with a plain, dark red obi. His robe was loose-fitting with wide sleeves, a lighter shade of orange with white, red and orange swirling patterns that started at his left hip and curved up the side of his body to wrap around to his back and swoop back again to end over his right pectoral. He wore a single silver rope that was long enough to double over with the symbols for earth, fire and water dangling from his neck, as well as a silver ring wrapped around his left wrist. His right arm, under the large sleeve, was actually covered by a red bracer much like the Avatar was wearing on both of her arms.

He wore the robe loosely even with the sash around his waist to show off his chiseled abdomen and pectorals. He sported a few scars along his abdomen, but many of them were old and healing, gradually. Very few of his physical scars seemed to be bad enough to be permanent.

He also wore loose-fitting orange pants which were stopped with red wraps at his shins, as well as wooden geta, which were wooden sandals raised using small twin blocks of wood and strapped to his feet by way of a cloth thong.

His eyes were focused on the Avatar up ahead. He wondered about her. He was curious about the role she would play in the upcoming wave of strife that was about to wash over the city.

He remembered meeting her the other day.

oOo

(Yesterday - Once Triple Threat Triad Territory, now Whirlpool Territory)

"Excuse me," he heard over his shoulder. His bright blue eyes looked up from the paper that he was reading and he turned to glance at the dark-skinned girl who looked like she had been living her entire life in one of the water tribes, only to teleport somehow directly behind him.

When she saw his eyes soften and his lips curve into a warm smile, Korra smiled back and said, "Hi… uhm… uh…"

"Hello. Is there a problem?"

"Uhm! No, well, yes! Ugh… sorry. I think I'm lost."

Naruto smirked knowingly and replied, "No, you're not lost." She looked a little taken aback by his 'as-a-matter-of-fact' tone in his statement until he leaned closer and said, "You found your way to me just fine. Please, have a seat Miss…" he paused so that she could give him her name.

"Korra."

"_Korra_. Once I learn a pretty girl's name, I never forget it. That's a _promise_." He winked and offered a charming smile, showing his brilliant white teeth as he stood up and pulled his own seat out for her.

"That's a splendid polar bear dog you have there." He commented, eyeing Naga with an appraising look on his face. "Probably one of the biggest I've seen, actually. What's her name?"

Korra blushed and muttered incoherently for a bit, her eyes looking away, "Thank you. Naga… uh, I… uh… air… island…?"

"Yes, of course! I'll walk you to the docks right after! But please, humor me and have a seat." When it started to look like she was just going to stand there, Naruto walked up beside her and led her to his seat, gently easing her into it as he then walked around to another table that was not being used and pulled another seat over to their table.

Korra's face was red when she realized she could still feel his warmth from the cushioned seat she had been given. She turned to look at Naga who was just staring right at her, and taking a deep breath was all that Korra could do to keep from blurting out "What!" in broad daylight. Instead, she just offered a slightly nervous smile at the handsome young man who seemed so confident in his skin.

Naruto got a look from the owner of the tea house, but it was just one of curiosity. As he sat down across from her, a tea cup seemed to fall out of his sleeve and into his hand, something which caused the Avatar to blink in surprise. She watched him as he poured her some tea from the pot and smiled warmly at her, sliding her glass toward her. "They say this place makes the best tea, but tea is only as good as the company one has when drinking it."

"I see…" she said, trying to think of something smart or funny to say but coming up empty handed. Instead, she just muttered, "Those are some pretty wise words."

"I agree." He smiled softly at her, looking into her eyes like he was counting the tiny specks of black and grey in her blue irises. It looked like he was gazing at the stars and Korra found herself at a loss for words as she sat there looking at the steam rising from the hot tea in front of her. Her eyes slowly looked up from the table, however, when he said, in one of the silkiest voices she had ever been privy to, a line that otherwise she would have thought was contrived and cheap, but because _he _was saying it, it seemed to be filled with nothing but raw emotion.

She _wanted _to hear the truth in his words, and so she sought truth even if every word he spoke was meant to further cover up his lies. "It's always a treat to be in the presence of a _beautiful _and _intelligent_ woman." He spoke without pause, without any particular body language other than he appeared to be fairly relaxed but, most importantly, he spoke without any look of embarrassment in his eyes.

Korra's stared at him quietly for a moment before she said, "I've never been called that before… not by a boy…"

Naruto chuckled, "I'm hardly a boy anymore… but I see more than just beauty and intelligence. Your body tells me that you are strong and durable… you must work extremely hard to have such a wonderful body like yours."

"You're one to talk… what's with that robe, huh? You're wearing it all open so that all of the 'beautiful and intelligent' girls that walk by can just gawk and get mesmerized by all of those… rough, hard lines…"

Naruto offered her a knowing smile as he leaned in and whispered, "_Are you __**mesmerized**_?"

Korra blushed and shook her head, denying what he was asking with a firm, "No!"

He smirked and eased back into his chair languidly, pulling slowly on the fringe of his robe until one side of it was pushing past his shoulder blade, draping over his arm but exposing most of his well-defined chest, as well as the serrated-looking muscles that were peeking out at the side of his rib cage.

The best thing about having to run away from gangs for your whole life was all of that cardio required.

She looked at his flesh and noted that he had many small scars along his torso with a large, horizontal one just above his belly button. _I wonder if all of these were brushes with death, _she thought.

Korra's eyes widened slightly when he finally asked, breaking the tension and the silence that had built up between them as he started to disrobe, "So then why are you _gawking_?"

Her face completely red, Korra shot up from her chair and spoke in a quick and high-pitched tone, "OK! Thank you for the tea, bye!" Turning to her familiar, she said, "C'mon Naga!"

Naruto watched amusedly as she walked back the way she came, only for him to call out and say, "You're going the wrong way!"

Korra groaned and let her head drop and hang past her shoulders before she decided to turn around and look him dead in the eyes "OK… which way should I go, then?"

"Back down this road. I told you before, you weren't lost." He drank his tea and stood up, walking past her with a knowing wink as he went in the direction that she was headed a second ago.

Korra watched him leave, afraid that he would turn around and make good on his intent to walk her all of the way down to the docks. She wasn't sure if she could handle any more of his slick city talk.

Looking back at the table to see the tea sitting there, Korra gave him one last glance, wondering who he was. She thought about it for a moment and said, "Oh… why not?" Smiling, Korra took the tea on the table that he had served for her and took a sip to taste it. She let out a happy sigh at the taste and downed the rest of the tea before waving at the tea house owner and running off. The man just grunted and continued to count the money that Naruto and his crowd had loaned him so that his business could stay afloat.

Korra spun around a corner on top of Naga a moment later and saw the blond man stepping into a satomobile, ducking his head as he sat in the backseat. She looked on with a frown and sighed as she turned away, "All of that sweet talking and he forgot to give me his name."

Meanwhile, Naruto smirked as he peered through the rear view window to see the water tribe girl fading into the distance along with her polar bear dog, 'Naga' as she had called her.

"Now's not the time to be messing around with girls' hearts, Naruto."

"I know, Sasuke." Naruto said, looking into the rear view mirror again to see the black eyes of his friend and associate, Sasuke Uchiha. "I didn't even give her my name."

Nodding approvingly, Sasuke asked, "Are you ready for tomorrow?"

"If everything was done like I told you to do it, then yes."

"Yes, we took care of every bribe that was necessary and they all think they're going to meet that mysterious 'leader' persona you made up for them."

Naruto looked out from the window as he pondered over what was to come. For now, all he could do was prepare for tomorrow evening.

oOo

Naruto was woken up from his thoughts when he heard the sound of a young boy calling out to him.

"Hey Boss! Over here!"

Naruto, eighteen years old, turned to look in the direction of the voice of the boy who was now waving his arm at him as he ran through the crowds. Naruto's deep blue eyes scanned the crowd briefly before he turned to look back at the Avatar as she tried to answer questions all while pushing back the smothering crowd.

"Konohamaru. Did you deliver the message I gave you?"

"Of course, boss! You know that I'm the fastest courier on two feet!"

Naruto smirked and said, "Are you now? I suppose I relinquished that title when I stopped running those sorts of errands." He then reached into his kimono and pulled out a long, sharp toothpick and started chewing on one end.

"W-well! Not as fast as you, of course, Mr. Naruto!"

Rolling his eyes, Naruto said, "Mister sounds weird… call me Naruto or Boss instead, I prefer that."

"U-uh… alright boss! Say, what was that message about anyways and why did you want me to give it to Lin Beifong's second in command?"

Turning to look the young boy squarely in the eyes, Naruto said in a 'you better damn well know this' kind of tone, "And who, might I ask, is her second in command, and what is his title, exactly?"

Flinching, Konohamaru shook like a scared rabbit under Naruto's steady gaze. "Uh… uh… Sa-Saikhan! Yeah, that's it! Saikhan, boss!"

Naruto nodded, "And his title? He isn't just 'second in command', you know."

"Oh, he is Lin Beifong's… uhm… general… no, wait."

"Ehhh! Wrong. He's the cap-i-tan, my boy. Looks like you've only earned half today." He proceeded to look back at the Avatar and tried not to snicker when he heard Konohamaru let out a hopeless sigh. He looked at the young boy from the corner of his eye and watched him walk away slowly, saying, _Ok boss, see ya around then._

"Heh… kid reminds me of myself so much it's weird. The only reason why he doesn't talk back to me is because of his respect for me… funny, that." Naruto saw Korra finally make it away from the crowd and he turned to leave the crowd himself, making his way back to his satomobile where Sasuke was likely waiting for him.

oOo

Lin Beifong, now the Chief of Police in Republic City, eyed her captain, Saikhan, with a disbelieving look on her face.

Her whole body shivered when she saw the stack of papers sitting on her desk, spread out to show particular pages that Saikhan had tried to point out to her.

"So," she began, looking at the pages, "What you're saying is that The Agni Kais, the Red Monsoons and the Triple Threats… you're saying that this is a compilation of all of their assets?"

Smirking, Saikhan nodded and said, "Take a look. A list of the banks that had been laundering their stolen money and even the personal bank account information of every high-ranking member in each of the triads. Their own business logs, black books and hell, some laundry lists to add onto that! Someone has been compiling this information for years, Lin!

"There are contacts inside and outside of the city, the names of their suppliers and which businesses in the area are fronts for their operations… even naval operations and names of spies in the Council's administrative office as well as the names of their spies that are in our own police force.

"Lin, everything that we need," he said with emphasis, holding up one page in particular that made her eyes widen, "to book all of them is _right here_, on_ this_ table."

Beifong stared incredulously and moved to sit down. She rubbed her temples as the prospect of catching every major known criminal in the organized crime circuit all at once began to sink in.

"How did you acquire this intel again?" Beifong asked, reclining back in her seat as she read a detailed account of the kidnapping ring that was capturing, selling and then exporting young women into the Earth Kingdom to be used in brothels while missing orphan children were being used in sweat shops within the United Republic itself. The account also gave information on which ship owners were acting as transporters for these vile trades.

"A young boy, probably no more than fifteen years old, delivered the message to me and said it was some Yuans that had been left out on the street. I thanked him and told him he could come and reclaim them in a month if no one claimed it, then he just nodded and left without giving me his name, so I just figured he was a good kid, you know?"

"Was it in an envelope? I mean, didn't you check what was inside before he left?"

"Well, all of this was not in a single envelope, obviously." He muttered, looking over to the table before he reached for a single envelope that he picked up and handed it to her. "The Yuans are still inside and I left the note that I found in between the notes in there. It was so small that even when I counted them I hadn't noticed it, but upon closer inspection…"

Nodding, Beifong held the bill that had a tiny note glued onto it which looked like it had been folded up before it was placed into the envelope amongst several other notes. "This is a substantial amount of money… I wonder if this was an attempt at a bribe somehow."

"I would never take a bribe! Lin, you know me, right?" Saikhan asked hopefully. "I marked the amount of money when he came in and you can see it on record, I-I took care of it!"

She nodded and said, "Yes, Saikhan, _I know you_. Don't worry, it was only an observation. So, with this information, who can we bring in?"

Nodding, he looked at the papers and said, "Well, definitely the Triple Threats. Their record keeping is the most elaborate of all of them and it would be hard not to convict them solely on this evidence. Definitely a case on them. As for any others, there is the Agni Kai as well as the Red Monsoon triads, their activities are definitely described here."

"What do you think the purpose of all of this was? Is there going to be a restructuring occurring in the criminal underworld? Maybe the second-in-commands all got together to compile this evidence…"

"I don't think that's the case… looks like we've got enough info on their own front operations and other… extracurriculars to build cases against them as well. One man is an earthbender named Hyun while another key triad member is Omi. They recently made these expensive purchases on this date," he turned to a calendar and pointed, "And this one, and each of these coincide with the Cabbage Corp. robberies of two separate warehouses on two different dates."

She nodded, stroking her chin as she pointed at the calendar as well, "I remember those robberies. This was only six months ago… the other was a week later. If we use what we have in our file for this we may be able to establish a case that will stick for them too. We'll need to run sting operations first though to catch them in the act and clear out some of these prostitution and slave running rings. Alright, Saikhan, get your best team together. Remember to consider the 'moles' we may have in our employ and position them away from our work in spread out groups with rookies. If we're lucky, we'll strike at the heart of these damn triads and finally get a grip back on our city."

oOo

"So what's dis whole meetings abouts, anyways? I donts have lots of time, you know?" A burly earthbender sat at the table with his chin resting on his palm as he looked around the room, a little intimidated by all of the faces of big name gangsters from several different gangs, not just the Triple Threats.

The other two big gangs in his presence were the Agni Kai and Red Monsoon Triads. These were some of the more dangerous mobster types in Republic City. Each were vicious in their own way while trying to establish control and dominance over the city and the other gangs. It was a true spectacle to see so many gangs together in one place.

Aside from them and the Triple Threats, there were several smaller mob leaders present, one even from a small-time non-bending group that had been growing in number recently. They made a quick enemy of the Triple Threats by stealing a large chunk of their territory, but there was never any retaliation for it. Viper, the leader of the Triple Threat Triad, claimed that he was too busy to worry about small fry competition like that taking the scraps, but, in reality, some prime real estate had been taken away by the group called the Whirlpool Triad.

"Hyun, must you always speak like an uncultured brute? For goodness' sake, man, pick up a book from time to time." A haughty-looking firebender used a fan to cool his make-up covered face with his arm sticking out of his kimono. He had dull, yellow eyes and long, delicate-looking eyelashes. He wore a very long, multi-layered robe, with a thick outer layer of a pale green and each inner layer alternating colors of light yellow, baby blue and magenta.

"Hey, watch your mouth, punk! I don't like the ways youse talks neither!" The earthbender from earlier, Hyun stood upright and pointed straight at the firebender, saying, "Youse a fairy, prancing like a little fucking butterflies, Omi!"

"At the very least I'm not a single muscle without a brain! Way to propagate the earthbending stereotype, Hyun! Go ahead: say it! Me, Hyun, **smash**!"

"Hyun, Omi, shut up both of you." Snapped a man with sideburns and a chin-strap beard. "You're both Triple Threats and high on the food chain, so fucking act like it. If _he_ walks in and you are both fighting like this then he's going to have our heads." The older man wearing a tan hat said, knocking back a drink before looking over to his associate, a pale man with a split, pointy mustache in black and red clothing.

He heard, "_Yes, Viper," _from the both of them as he leveled the man with an annoyed glower, saying, "Ping, do you have the tribute ready? We can't come here empty handed."

In the back of the room, the same blond man from the crowd in the Avatar's address to the city sat with his eyes settled on the so-called "Two-toed Ping". A jungle cat stalking its prey couldn't have been more concealed in the trees than the crime boss from the Whirlpool Triad was here among the mobsters.

He felt a hand rest on his shoulder and he turned to glare at Sasuke who glared right back. Boss or not, the brilliant young Sasuke knew when his boss was about to let his temper flare and they both knew that would ruin everything that they had planned.

"How long are we gonna have to wait, damn it?!" complained a small-time group consisting of both benders and non-benders called the Alley Cats. They were tiny, even when compared to the Whirlpool's insignificant group, but, all the same, they were under the 'protection' of the so-called _leader_ of the mob underworld.

"However long it takes," Viper said, glancing back at the man who spoke out earlier with a broad smirk on his face, "Don't be stupid. Patience is probably the only thing that _won't_ get you killed."

"I propose we set up an ambush and kill this 'leader'." Omi declared, placing his fan back underneath his kimono. He was going to shift around in his chair, but suddenly the sense of dread that filled the room made everyone who was more than four feet away from Omi suddenly scoot over even further, eyeing him as if he were _dangerously_ obtuse; like being any less than five feet away from him would spread the fucking disease, obtuse.

"Huh. And you says I ain't got no brains. Youse fucking stupid, Omi." Hyun just shook his head and turned to look at Viper, "Yo Vipes! Boss, please tell him how fucking stupids he is!"

Omi glared and yelled, "What on earth is so wrong with my plan? It is brilliant! Why waste another tribute on this 'leader' who is too scared to show his face?"

"You're new from the Fire Nation, so you don't know what's going on here really… Hyun's right, you're dumb as a fucking doorknob if you think you'll be able to get this guy. I'm sure the person he's sending in is just another messenger. If he's smart, he'd never come in person. Not after everything he's done to us here in Republic City."

Omi narrowed his eyes, "What do you mean? What has he done?"

"Sonovabich cockblocked the lot of us. He makes it impossible to run a legitimate business around heres. Youse knows, like hookers and using kids for intel and running errands. Sonovabich runs round, p'tects small businesses and don't fucking charge them nothing. Not a single Yuan. Steals from our banks, gives to these fucking little shit businesses like yo mom and pop stows. Y'know?"

"And when we try to enforce," Viper intervenes, rolling his eyes at the strange way that Hyun speaks meanwhile, "he locks us down. Anytime we send someone over to crash a joint, he manages to convince them to join up or he gets rid of them. There's never any trace of what happened afterwards and we haven't heard from any of the hired mercs that we've sent over the past year."

"And to hit us where it hurts, he's been taking loans out under our names using forged signatures and IDs, disguises, and bribery. He is screwing up our legitimate fronts and businesses and bringing us all close as hell to bankruptcy. Chopping up our businesses and selling them on the cheap… He's even got our informants in the police against us. He buys out properties we're trying to strong arm and he sets up legal barriers to keep us on our toes… and he does all of this with cash. I don't understand how he's managing it… _No one_ has that much fucking cash."

Suddenly, Naruto stood up and walked over to slam his fist into the table, as he had been sitting further away from the 'big boys' chairs, being from a lower class criminal group. "Last but not least, _Omi_, he'll fucking kill each and every one of us, don't you understand? He's got us by the fucking balls! Or did you not get those pretty little packages with ALL of your info in it, ALL of your friends and relatives names in it, and ALL of your fucking assets, criminal or legitimate?"

Naruto flipped Omi off and pointed at Viper, saying, "You fucking benders are pussies. You have these freaking powers and yet you hide scared instead of facing this bastard head on."

Omi glowered and turned to look at Hyun, saying, "So when did he go from being scared of the 'leader' to calling us out for being scared ourselves? What a fucking hypocrite."

Naruto continued on, ignoring Omi's comment, saying "Me and my crew, we're all non-benders and we're scraping at the bottom of your fucking shoes to get by! And still we make a decent enough living. But you guys, flaunting your fancy bending abilities around us every single fucking day and you're scared? Scared of this guy who comes at us from the shadows? Who no one has ever seen?"

Naruto leaned in close to Hyun and narrowed his eyes, asking him right in his face, "Are you scared of a fucking ghost?"

Standing straight up in his chair, Hyun snarled and said, "That's it, tough guy! You wants a piece of me?"

Rolling his eyes, Naruto turned to look at Viper and asked, "Can I fucking kill this guy?"

One minor boss laughed, saying, "Holy shit. These Whirlpool guys are fucking crazy!"

Looking up at the young man from his chair, Viper smirked and said, "Sure, give it your all, kid. Don't be surprised if he squishes you like a bug."

Hyun yelled as he cocked his fist back to throw a punch, but before he could do anything, Naruto spat a needle out from his mouth and fired it straight in between his teeth, shooting him right in the throat.

Everyone in the room stood up out of their chairs and watched as the non-bender grabbed Hyun by his hair and slammed his face on the table twice before punching him in the throat and letting him go.

Naruto then proceeded to jump up onto the table and walked over to the edge and turned to look back at Viper as Hyun writhed about on the floor, choking on the short needle that was now in his throat, "Last chance to tell me to stop."

But when he saw Hyun gasp his last breath of air even before he dropped down on his neck, Naruto just smirked and sat on the edge of the table, saying, "Nevermind. Fucker died before I could put the nail in… must've punched him too hard or something…. so anyways, like I was saying._ I'm_ going to fucking kill all of you."

Viper looked around the room and nodded at his contemporaries, ready to use their bending abilities to kill the psychotic blond who had just aced one of their top players, when suddenly a purple gas poured into the room and Naruto ran out the front door while Sasuke had escaped earlier during all of the commotion.

Viper and the rest of the crime bosses ran out of the backroom into the lobby, chasing the blond while they tried to cover their faces to keep from inhaling the irritable gas that was stinging their eyes, the inside of their noses and their lips. When they stood out in the lobby of the chemical-processing company owned by Viper, they heard the door behind them lock and each of the crime bosses looked up to see an entire army of lower triad members standing all around them.

Some were readying blasts of fire, water or rock with intent to kill, but no one did a thing until Naruto walked out from in between the crowd and said, "Wait! Wait a second everybody."

Grinning, the blond adjusted his orange kimono and said, "Two-toed Ping?" When the man in question peeked his head out from behind Viper, Naruto's grin widened and he turned to look at him, "Hey buddy, long time no see! Alright. Get your ass out of there, I'm not going to kill you."

Letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding, Ping ran away from Viper and the rest, placing his hands together in a 'sorry' motion as he grinned and ran into the larger crowd.

"How did you…"

Naruto smiled. "Money. Money, money, money. A little bit of yuans and good pussy buys a lot of loyalty." He turned to look at the crowd and asked, "Doesn't it fellas?"

He grinned along with the laughter that proceeded his question and he looked through the crowd of benders within group of men who used to be the leaders of the criminal machine of Republic City. "Huh… so Hyun was your only Earthbender, wasn't he? That's interesting." With the wave of his hand, suddenly the ground caved in and a pillar shot up underneath their feet, forcing them to jump off or get crushed into the ceiling. The only place they had to land was in a giant pit in the middle of the ground, and too many benders surrounded the pit for them to be able to try and escape, but Omi still attempted it anyways.

"Shoot that fucking fairy down." Naruto ordered, pointing at the fire bender who was using flames to boost himself into the air to try and get away.

After dodging several shots, Omi got hit in the side by a blast of water that threw him against the pillar of earth by the door which they had just entered the lobby from, knocking him out as he crashed into the ground almost fifty feet below.

Viper was sweating. He had _never_ in his life been so certain of death. It was as if the Grim Reaper already had him by the arm and was dragging him away at a languid pace. All of his subordinates, or at least a majority of them, were standing in the room there, ready to kill him. The floor they were standing on was elevated so that it resembled a stadium that surrounded the pit, which looked like an inverted stage. The earth benders in the group must have set it up so that it would be impossible to get out of the room alive. There literally was no exit except through the angry mob of hungry bottom feeders... yes, that's what it was. He was being eaten alive slowly like the minnows that nip at the skin on your feet when you stick your legs in the water. Except there were far too many minnows here and he had no way of removing his feet from the water...

"Why the fuck are you doing this? Hey, listen, we can strike a deal Naruto! You don't need to do this!" Viper yelled, desperate for the boy to see his reasoning.

Naruto scoffed and said, "Of course I don't, you dumb ass. I _want_ to do this… do you think you're the only one who gets off from killing the elderly?"

Narrowing his eyes, Viper asked, "What? What are you talking about…?"

"You won't remember. You've killed so many people," Naruto remarked, "What I'm about to do is a drop in the bucket… There was this girl, a long time ago, and she had a father… and she told me he passed away, but I got curious… _real_ fucking curious."

"A girl and her dad? What the hell are you talking about? I didn't kill any girl."

Rolling his eyes, Naruto said, "Whatever, you wouldn't give a damn about some old man, but I know you did the deed… Well, how about that hooker you strangled three months ago. Her name was Anko. You don't remember her?"

Gulping, Viper nonetheless shook his head. "No, I never killed…"

The crowd started laughing. "You see? Even they don't believe you… It doesn't matter… killing you won't bring anyone back. But at the very least, I can sleep like a baby tonight, knowing that you'll be rotting here in your grave."

"You think a pit is going to keep us from getting out? What the fuck sort of plan is this, huh?!" Viper was yelling, but throughout the whole conversation so were many of the other bosses. They clawed at the walls, begged their 'friends', subordinates and their peers to let them out, but no one standing on the line showed any sort of sympathy for the demons that were writhing about like snakes in their pit.

"Well… I killed your last earthbender… Yeah, I guess Hyun was pretty important. You shouldn't have let me kill him." Naruto smirked and chewed on the end of a toothpick that he pulled out from underneath his kimono. "Shoulda been more proactive during the hiring and selection process… I mean, what happened to that other earthbender? Oh, that's right, he went back home to visit Ba Sing Se, didn't he? No... wait... he's dead too."

Naruto smirked and pat his lips with his index finger as he looked up at the ceiling. "What was his name… ah, fuck it. Bury them."

"What? We don't need to bend earth to get out of here! Fuck you, Naruto!" With that, Viper went for the escape, but before he could even use his bending, a giant slab of rock shifted over the site of their burial. They screamed as the darkness took them, but it wasn't until earthbenders went _underneath_ the pit and hardened the soil so that it was like clay for firebenders to burn, did the sounds of hell echo through the walls where the heads of the Triads organizations lay.

oOo

Naruto smirked and turned to look into the crowd, "Ping? Oh Piiiiiing? Where are you?"

_I didn't mean what I said back there… or rather, I wish I could take it back… you're not a monster._

"Ping! My friend!" Naruto grinned when he saw his _friend_ trying to squeeze through the crowd. "Hey, come over here man! Gotta talk with you about something!"

Ping, who had made it half of the way, was crowd-surfed back onto the surface of the grey slab that had buried his contemporaries. "No! Hey, Naruto! I gotta go somewhere. I'm in a hurry man, sorry, maybe next time!"

"I don't think so. We have to have a talk." Naruto grinned and said, "Anyone got a knife?"

oOo

Crying, Ping asked, "I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry… please, don't make me do this."

Naruto gasped, "Me? I'm not making you do _anything_! It's your decision. I mean... this is the ultimatum that you decided upon when you did what you did... and you _know_ what you did. Remember? You said I really was a monster, because I stood there and watched..." Naruto had a nasty smirk on his face as he said, "You could just kill yourself, you know." Ping shuddered as he held the knife in his hand. "And if you try anything _funny_," Naruto said, "I'll ask your old pals here to show you just how much they liked your stupid ass jokes."

"So…" he said, starting to cry, "I can either… cut my… my… my little ping off… or… or…"

Naruto laughed, "Or kill yourself, yeah. But hey, brighten up! The choice is yours. I'm a nice guy, ain't I?"

Ping's hand shook as he held the knife in front of him, staring at it and then down at his trousers. He looked around the lobby and noticed that murmur that was starting to rise all around the criminal underground. Every man and woman present was staring, and each of them knew that these were the consequences of crossing a man like Naruto of the Whirlpool Triad. No, scratch that. They all watched and, though there was a bit of variation, all thought along the lines of, _This is what happens when you think you can get away from this man's wrath... whether you wronged him or not doesn't matter... all that matters is whether or not he thinks you ought to be dead.__  
_

"You have ten seconds… and then I'm going to cut off your dick _and _kill you." Naruto said, narrowing his eyes as he began to stalk toward him.

Ping screamed when he saw Naruto. "You monster! You're a fucking monster! That girl was right! That girl was right! Leave me alone!" He wailed and kicked back against the ground, trying to get away until he found himself backed up against the same wall that had pillared up and blocked off the rooms beyond the lobby.

Crying, Ping unzipped his pants and took the knife in hand, his dick in the other…

And then…

oOo

Naruto smirked. "Huh, what do you know." He watched Ping squirm and suffer there, choking on his own blood. He had chosen to cut his own throat, a fate which Naruto wasn't entirely against. The blond nodded and said, "Drop him into the pit, make sure their bodies are nice and crispy too, then compress it and bury it with dirt. If you bury it deep enough the smell shouldn't seep through for a while."

And when Naruto walked through the huge crowd of mobsters, he reveled in the power he felt when all of them moved out of his way, none set on denying him passage to the outside world.

Sasuke, meanwhile, turned to look at the man lying on the floor, his pants around his ankles and his blood _gushing_ out onto the stone slab beneath him.

_Revenge,_ he observed, _truly is a terrifying thing._

oOo

Korra was listening to the radio a few days later and she heard the bad news about a slew of failed sting operations. Apparently something big had gone down, but all the police were able to do was attain search warrants and go through empty houses and mansions in confusion. A tip they had received had been either bogus or too late. None of the heads of the Triad gangs had been spotted in quite a long time, so even though they now had mountains of evidence to put these men behind bars, there were no men to pin the blame on. They all disappeared. Vanished. Into thin air like a ghost or a demon had picked them up and spirited them away.

She would later hear of the rumors of a new criminal kingpin. Apparently the Triads were all dissolving, and they were coming together under the leadership of an unknown individual or entity. This was observed when known Agni Kai Triads were spotted in Triple Threat and Red Monsoon territories for 'celebration'. Beifong's chief detective found no trouble at any of the parties that were held and was even invited in to have a few drinks, much to the surprise of Beifong and everyone else involved.

Korra didn't think much about what was going on in the criminal underworld, not with the anti-bending revolution on the horizon and her first meeting with Amon taking place only a day before, but she did wonder about the handsome blond man in the orange kimono.

oOo

The next day, Beifong was standing over the spot where she believed the Triads had been buried. "Here. They're here," she told Saikhan, turning to look at him. "That boy was right after all…"

"What was his name again?" Saikhan asked.

"Sasuke Uchiha," she responded. "He seemed very bothered by what he had overheard… but I think he knows more than he's telling us."

Her captain nodded, saying, "Yeah, I sort of got that impression too." He looked at the ground and arched an eyebrow as he scratched his chin, "It looks like new tile was put in recently, huh?" he observed. "Should we dig this up?"

She nodded and said, "Yes, we're going to have to so we can retrieve the bodies. Have the rookies work on it, tell them to take it slow."

"Right away." He said before going to get a group of newbies to take care of the exhuming process.

Lin looked down at the ground and could feel through the soles in her feet that there were several bodies buried underneath tons and tons of dirt. Whatever was left was probably nearly destroyed by now, but they had to take the chance that they were able to find something that proved that these were the heads of the disbanded Triads.

She had this feeling a while back… several days ago, back when she and Saikhan were going over the evidence that had been dropped right onto their laps.

_Naruto… I pray that you are not involved in this._

oOo

End Chapter 2

**Author:** Shorter, but I think enough was given in there to set up for the third (and possibly final) chapter. I might work on this next week after my tests, but I have to study in the morning for a bunch of exams, so I won't be updating for a while.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: **Nothing too bad here. A little violence and a lot of swearing, but that's too be expected at this point. Also, as a **disclaimer,** I obviously don't own either Naruto or Avatar: TLOK or you would see a spin-off where the two of them meet somehow. Yeah, I mean… doesn't _everyone_ want that?

"Water is the element of change. The people of the water tribe are capable of adapting to many things. They have a deep sense of community and love that holds them together through anything." - Iroh, ATLA.

(One day before the bodies were found)

With a fierce look in his eyes, Sasuke walked swiftly through the front doors of a building with a sign in big red letters that said, _Inuzuka Ship Manufacturing Co._

A secretary working on some paperwork looked up and smiled, saying, "Hello Sasuke! How are you today?"

"Not right now, Sakura. I have to speak with Naruto."

Wincing, Sakura frowned and said, "You know he's in a meeting right now, right?"

Sasuke's eyes widened, "He started already?!" Without warning, he slammed his fists down on the counter and made all of the other secretaries who were busy working through their paperwork and taking phone calls look up all of a sudden and stare blankly. "How long have they been in there, Sakura?!"

Stammering, Sakura reeled back at the sudden outburst. "I-I-I I don't-"

"_Sakura!_ It is important!" Grabbing her arm, Sasuke clamped both of his hands over hers and said, "Tell me, please!"

"About fifteen minutes?" Sakura said, unsure if it had actually been that long.

"Thank you Sakura!" Sasuke brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it before he bolted through the double doors right beside her counter that led to the board room and president suite. He ran down the long hallway to enter the smaller, but more luxurious lobby way at the back where the suite and the boardroom was located.

This was the administration building of the company, which was owned only in name by the Inuzuka family. In reality, this was just another of Naruto's 'legitimate' businesses. He did not run the company himself-he was sharp enough to understand his own limitations- but he frequented the board room and president suite to conduct unofficial, Triads, business here prior to the insurrection he orchestrated against the leaders and even now that the deed was done. Its location outside of Triad territory, as well as the fact that he had his own personal dock and access to a multitude of underground tunnels that led straight into the heart of the city, made the Inuzuka ship manufacturing company the best tactical option he was able to afford at the time.

Of course, it wasn't the first business that he bought. Naruto owned or partially owned several different businesses and companies, of which included: a printing press, a brewery, two small shipping companies, one by land and the other by boat, four different tea houses and several small businesses and restaurants.

oOo

_When Sasuke first met Naruto, four years ago, they got along swimmingly. Naruto punched Sasuke right across the face and kicked him in the gut until he vomited there on the floor of a bar that he had managed to purchase on his own. It was the first small business that Naruto got a hold of, and Sasuke just so happened to be sitting next to him that evening at the bar, not realizing that he had just called one of the most hotheaded, violent, non-bending hoodlums in Republic City a "scrawny loser"._

_That was it. Scrawny loser, and Naruto just sits there, finishes his drink, waiting for the smirk to appear on Sasuke's face when he thought Naruto was just going to pretend he hadn't heard it._

_But when his drink was finished, Naruto stood up and slammed Sasuke's face into the bar, then dragged him up onto his feet and punched him clean on the jaw, breaking it, but before he could hit the ground he buried his foot into Sasuke's belly and forced the young Uchiha to double over, vomiting there on the ground. While Sasuke writhed about on the floor, Naruto kicked at his ribs, saying, "Who's scrawny now, huh?! Who's the loser now, huh? You limp-dicked little fucker!"_

_Naruto spat on the floor next to him and turned to Lee, who was taking over for Gai at the bar. "Hey! Lee! Get this shithead out of here and make sure he's a block or two away from the bar. We don't need him hanging around-"_

"_Wait!" And he couldn't believe his ears. Slowly, Naruto turned his head back and looked at the man he had just laid out. "Wait…" Sasuke repeated, standing up._

"_Oh ho!" Naruto howled, a bright grin on his face. "Looks like the limp-dick has a pair on him, at the very least!"_

_Sasuke smirked and spat out a tooth into his hand. He looked at it and shook his head, dropping the tooth onto the floor as he started to say, "Well… at the very least…"_

_Naruto leaned in, arching a brow as he asked, "Huh? What was that? You saying something, huh?"_

"_At least I have a dick you fucking pussy!"_

_Lee let out a loud yell as he clenched his fist and broke a half-full scotch glass in the process, "OOOOooh! Burn! Ow! My hand is burning too, oh!" Lee wined and both Naruto and Sasuke turned to look at the bowl-haired bartender who held his hand up by the wrist and was staring at the pieces of glass that were sticking out of his palm. It seemed like he couldn't stop yelling, probably due to the pain of both the glass and the alcohol getting into the wound._

"_Lee!" Naruto yelled at him, doubling over in laughter as he watched his favorite bar's bartender completely freak out at the sight of his hand covered in broken glass. "God damn it, Lee! Shut the fuck up!" With tears in his eyes, Naruto reached over and smacked Lee over the top of his head, getting him to snap out of it._

_Turning to look at them, he held up the same hand stuck with tiny shards of glass all over it and gave the both of them a thumbs up. "O-K!"_

_Sasuke looked at Lee, then Naruto, then back at Lee, and he started to chuckle. Within a few moments, both Naruto and Sasuke were sitting in the same seats next to each other, laughing their asses off and drinking another scotch, completely forgetting what had happened only a couple of seconds ago._

_After some deeper conversation than sharing a few insults, and wondering why they had even insulted one another in the first place, Naruto learned that Sasuke was the heir of the Uchiha family that owned most of the Radio telecommunication systems in Republic City. His family apparently originated in the Fire Nation, but he had come out here to Republic City in order to track down his brother, Itachi Uchiha. Why, he didn't say, but Naruto figured it was nothing good._

_Within a couple of minutes, Naruto smirked and said, "Alright… you're hired."_

_Laughing, Sasuke had said, "Oh yeah? And just why would I want to work for you?"_

"_If you want to make any money in this shit city, you're going to want to side with me. I'm gonna take over the world, after all!"_

_Sasuke was drinking from his glass at the time and spit out, spraying most of it on Lee who happened to be passing by at the moment, causing the clumsy, but hard-working bartender to drop bunch of expensive liquor bottles on the ground, breaking most of them._

"_You're paying for that," Naruto said, glaring at Sasuke._

_Wincing, Sasuke shook his head and held up his hands, "Eh, I don't have any money right now, so… yeah, I can't be responsible for that. Take it out of his pay."_

_Naruto shook his head, "Fuck that. Now you are indebted to me. Work for me and pay off your debt, Sasuke."_

"_Ah! There's one that's not broken! Here you go!" Lee grinned and stood up, holding a bottle of some __**incredibly**__ expensive liquor. Unfortunately, he was holding it with his injured hand and let it go when clenching the bottle too tightly caused a shooting pain to go up his arm._

"_OOOHHH!"_

_Naruto turned to look at Lee, then at the mess on the ground and said, "Yeah…" His eyes settled on Lee again and he shook his head, "I'm docking that one out of your pay, Lee."_

_Sasuke blinked and said, "Not that I would, but why not just make me pay for that?"_

_Cringing, Naruto turned to look at Sasuke and said, "No, no, no… __**trust me**__, you don't want to pay for that one."_

_Sasuke made a face like he couldn't quite comprehend what he was saying. 'I mean, really,' he thought, 'how much could a bottle of booze cost?'_

"_Yeah, each shot in that bottle is worth at least 100 yuan, on a good day… Lee's gonna be paying that one off in installments."_

_Sasuke saw Lee's dejected face and then looked at Naruto. 'So he's going to at least not take away his whole paycheck then… he's a pretty good guy…'_

"_I'll pay for it."_

_Naruto looked at the Uchiha and smirked._

"_After you pay me, of course," he added with a grin, "Oh! And Lee! Send a couple more drinks this way! Might as well bury myself if I'm gonna dig myself a hole!"_

_Laughing, the blond patted him on the back, saying, "That's the spirit! You start working for me tomorrow morning! Meet me at this address at the Morning Glory!"_

_Arching a brow, Sasuke held up the business card that Naruto had pulled out of the inside of his yukata. "This is… red light district?"_

_Grinning lecherously, Naruto said, "Oh yeah. It's a brothel."_

_oOo_

"Naruto!"

Naruto and the rest of the people in the room looked up to see who had just kicked in the door.

"Ah! Sasuke! You're here! About damn time, fucker, I was about to get this started without you!"

"Naruto… can I talk to you for a second?" Sasuke asked, gritting his teeth as he looked over at the man sitting at the end of the long table with a fedora hat tilted slightly, covering his face.

"Nah, not now, Sasuke." Naruto said, grinning.

Sasuke knew that grin… it was an _I-know-what-you're-trying-to-tell-me-and-I-say-fuc k-you _grin.

"Naruto… you don't understand what you're getting yourself into. Once you let them in, you'll never be able to get them out.

"They're like leeches. They numb your body so that you don't feel the pain, but in reality they're sucking your blood."

"My, my," said the man wearing a Fedora hat with , his slender hands reaching out in front of him as he entwined his fingers. "You speak as if you resent being an Uchiha, my little brother."

Sasuke grit his teeth and said, "Now is not the time, Itachi. Leave. We want nothing to do with you or the rest of the family!" He then turned to Naruto and said, "Please, Naruto! You must know that I only have your and your organization's best interests in mind! Trust me when I say that Itachi will only bring you ruin!"

Naruto smiled and, in the coldest tone that Sasuke had ever heard, said, "If you don't shut up and leave the room… right this instant… I will kill you right here and now, Sasuke."

Staring in disbelief, Sasuke swallowed his next words and just turned away. What else could he do? He was no martial artist. He was not a bender or a chi blocker or even just a military man. Despite what he had told Naruto back then, Sasuke was a runaway who left the Fire Nation _because_ of Itachi, not because he had been searching for him. The _very_ last thing Sasuke wanted was to ever see his older brother again.

"Now, Mr. Itachi. Are you saying that your investors can help me raise enough funds to purchase the whole Pro Bending franchise? I find it hard to believe how that is even possible. Aren't there leagues world-wide?"

Itachi smiled, "Yes, Naruto. Hm, but that's hardly why I contacted you for this meeting."

Sasuke still hadn't left the room, but he was fuming. _'Of course you would've made the first contact_.' He looked around the room and noticed a few more people were in there that he did not recognize. He gave them all a once-over and then just proceeded to ignore them. He decided to just stand there by the door, not wanting to join in on the conversation.

Laughing, Naruto rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, but that's the only thing I really care about… this Cabbage Corp. - Future Industries deal isn't really appealing to me."

Itachi nodded and leaned back in his chair, saying, "You can have both, but not just one. All you need to do is keep your end of the bargain and we'll keep ours. You won't even need to run it by proxy. You can do it all yourself."

Naruto laughed, "You think I know how to run a business? Shit… I'd only go to watch the tournaments for free! Best seats in the fucking house, that's all I want!" Sasuke never ceased to be amazed how Naruto could lie with a straight face like that. The reason _why_ he was able to topple the triads in the first place was because he understood the inner-workings of the business and the social machines.

Itachi chuckled, "Well that is amusing. Then why don't you have Sasuke run Cabbage Corp. for you? We intend to put Hiroshi Sato under, so to speak, and we need someone who is willing to strong arm him and his corporation mercilessly. This is also a little known fact, but we have information regarding Future Industries' relations with the Equalist movement. I cannot disclose how deep their ties are at this moment-"

"Because you don't fucking know shit." He offered bluntly, much to the annoyance of the elder Uchiha brother.

"-because you are not yet one of our business associates."

"Fuck that. Partner."

Itachi smirked and said, "Perhaps you don't understand just how far the Uchiha grasp reaches? No. We are as the bee who pollenates the flower. There are many bees and many colonies, but there is an entire earth filled with flowers. And you are only one of them."

Naruto sat there for a little while, stroking his chin as his grin faded from his face. Itachi's eyes watched him unflinchingly. If Naruto were to describe his expression, he would say that it reminded him of a samurai in those old stories about warriors who dressed in armor and fought using only their blades. And they were honorable… and Naruto could respect that.

"You know, those bees rely just as much on the flowers as the flowers do on the bee." Naruto said, standing up from his chair after he signed the agreement on the desk. "Remember that."

Itachi eyed him curiously for a moment before turning to look at the paperwork. "Wait."

Naruto stopped and crossed his arms, "What the fuck do you want now?"

"You have to put a surname. We can't agree to this with just your first name there."

"All my papers are only with my first name. They don't really care if I have a last name or not, so you shouldn't either."

"If you do not put a surname, then I am afraid that we cannot make this deal."

Growling, Naruto kicked his chair out of the way and grabbed the pen, writing down a 'family' name in the appropriate location on the document.

"There? Fucking happy? Now buzz off." Shaking his head, Naruto walked away from the table, muttering, "Uchiha prick talking to me in metaphors about bees and flowers and who knows what the fuck else."

Sasuke smirked when he saw his brother's ears perk up at that.

"I'm still in the room." Itachi said.

"Well then get fucking moving!" Naruto called back as he pushed the door open and Sasuke followed behind him. Naruto then turned to Sasuke as he walked, "And you! What the fuck is with you Uchiha and metaphors? Talking about leeches and shit! If there's a leech you don't just stare at it, you flick the sucker off if you don't want it to suck your blood, dumb ass!"

Itachi glowered and then looked at his associate, a strange looking man with blue tattoos of scales all over his body and his teeth sharpened to imitate shark teeth. He wore a white suit with a matching fedora hat on his head, in comparison to Itachi's black and red. He was a tall man and incredibly imposing. Sasuke hadn't been close enough, however, to appreciate just how fearsome he appeared to be up close. "You know, I could just kill him for you," the man offered.

Itachi grunted. "If only it were that easy… the only reason why we have to associate with him in the first place is because of his influence over what was left from the triad debacle."

"Hah. So you're saying it ended up being a failure? Instead of several gangs there's now one big mob. I can respect the guts the kid must've had to pull all of that off… not to mention what they say about how he ran all of the gangs into a corner by sabotaging their wallets."

"Yes. Naruto was very creative indeed."

"Hah! Get a load of this! You're going to have to start calling him Naruto 'Bangs-your-mom' now. Huh, he even put dashes to make sure that it's unmistakable. No one would ever think this was a weird 'foreign' name like that…"

Itachi turned to look at Kisame, then stared incredulously at the paperwork on the table.

"That is _entirely_ unacceptable."

oOo

Naruto let out a sigh. "At least I got the fucker with that little prank I played with the paper work. He's probably going to bitch about it. Sasuke, come up with a last name for me, will you?"

"Dumb ass. Idiot. Moron. Stupid. Fucktard."

"Ok, damn. That's enough. I would let you keep going just to see how many words you know to call me stupid but I'm sure you can keep going for days, huh? You'll probably even start spouting out more metaphors. Jeez, everyone must think I'm an idiot."

Sasuke smirked, "Well, that is because they don't know you well enough."

"Huh, no kidding? What, and _you _do? Are you my best-friend-forever, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, teasingly.

"Fuck you."

Naruto poured himself three fingers of gin as he spoke, then he walked over to stand by the large window that encompassed the entire wall in front of him, overlooking the assembly warehouse that was attached to the administrative building with several docks leading into it. "Not without buying me dinner first. And I'm on top, by the way. You'd enjoy that; you always seemed like the submissive type to me." He watched with cunning eyes that developed from a life of studying the crowd and figuring out the inner workings of society; it was a prerequisite to becoming an extraordinary pickpocket, not to mention a great read of people and their intentions.

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke looked away and said, "Whatever. I still don't approve of you dealing with my family. Especially not the devil himself. I just wanted to put that out there again."

Narrowing his eyes, Naruto turned to look at Sasuke and said, "Don't approve? You don't need to approve, Sasuke. All you need to do is nod your head and say, _yes sireebob_."

Blinking, Sasuke just stared for a moment before Naruto yelled, "Say it!"

"Yes… sir...eebob." Sasuke grumbled and crossed his arms.

Naruto grinned amusedly and said, "See? That ain't so bad, right?"

Sasuke, on the other hand, died a little inside.

"Now go take that Sakura girl out on a date. I heard she's real into you."

Sasuke groaned, "But she's so annoying… besides, you have no say over who I choose to see."

Naruto glared again, "You _will_ take that pink-haired goddess out on a date or I will throw you out this window and laugh my ass off until they scrape you off of the floor."

Sasuke flinched and said, "Uh, yes sir…eebob."

Grinning again, Naruto nodded and raised his glass up and said "To a seedy, greedy future!"

Sasuke groaned and grabbed the bottle of gin and held it up.

Naruto, of course, looked a little surprised at that, "Oh? You dying of thirst or something?"

Sasuke gave him a look that said, _don't-go-there-after-being-the-cause-of-all-of-my- stress_. What he actually ended up saying was, "I'm going to need it to get through the night."

"That-a-boy. Give her a good polish. I want to see rainbows flying out of her eyes when she walks in tomorrow."

"That… that right there is why people think you are an idiot."

"Which is why I continue to do it." Naruto said with a knowing smirk.

Sasuke knew that Naruto was all about the façade, but it was incredible to see the truth in his eyes and to hear it in his voice when he spoke. That was just something else entirely. He was like a man who played the villain in a play, but could also take on the roles of the hero, the fool and the king. He could be the pauper, and yet be rich, and he could be suave and yet a klutz.

When Sasuke looked at his face, he swallowed, wondering what was really behind that goofy grin on his face when he spoke to _him_. Sasuke was certain he'd never know.

"Ah, before you leave, Sasuke. There is one other thing that I want you to do. You are probably not going to approve of this one either, but it has to be you since you're the only person that I can trust."

Sasuke hadn't smelled a smellier crock of shit in his life, but he went with it; plus, it was kind of nice to hear it even if he knew the man didn't mean it.

"You're serious, huh? Well, what is it?"

Naruto nodded and sighed. "Tomorrow… I'm sending you tomorrow so you can go on your date with Sakura. I need you to take a message to Lin Beifong."

Sasuke gave Naruto a look that said he didn't like where this was going…

oOo

Lin and Saikhan were standing in the interrogation room, exasperated after hours of different interrogation techniques. Because it was a matter of national security, the council revoked his rights as a citizen of the United Republic of Nations to a speedy trial and representation. He was held, locked up tight in Police HQ, and interrogated for hours on end. However, he never budged. He stared at them with the same steady eyes that he had when he first entered the headquarters.

He had the look of a man who was delivered a harsh roll of the die. One who bet on everything and lost, yet he was now at peace with the life that he had led. Beifong admittedly likened his stoic personality to Tenzin, somewhat, though he seemed to lack that goofy sub-persona.

"You are brilliant, you know." She finally offered, crossing her arms as she leaned against the wall. "By telling us where the bodies were, you immediately _destroyed_ the value of that chemical processing plant, which by the way, was owned by Viper. You could say though, that the next person who buys it up will probably be the perpetrator of these idiotic murders… why serve him up on a silver platter and then cut him down before he can face justice? It's… cruel."

Sasuke nodded, "That does sound very cruel. But I had nothing to do with the plant, my boss did, and it sounds a little far-fetched to say that the next company that buys Viper's plant is to blame, don't you think? Who wouldn't want to own a company for the quarter of the cost? Sure, there are a lot of bad things that were going on there, like the bodies you all found in the chemical baths that you told me about earlier, but that doesn't mean anything for a chemical plant. They are just processing stuff like lubricants and fire retardants… I don't know what else, I'm not a real expert on it or anything… but anyways, I wanted to see those men brought to justice as well… the right way. I have always tried my best to respect the law. As you now know, I have cut all ties with my family from the Fire Nation. You must know of their reputation?"

"I do." She said, trying not to outright glare at this kid. He was starting to piss her off.

"When I heard where those gangsters were buried, I had to let someone know. I am Kiba Inuzuka's assistant and he told me himself about what happened. He explained how it was done and told me about his next venture. Which I already told you about."

"You said that he is going to strike a deal to make ships for the Equalist movement, but you didn't explain why."

"He partakes in the anti-bending resentment. I did as well, initially, and I am ashamed to say that I was blinded by his ambition and the money that he offered me, but I can't keep associating with someone like that… someone who is… willing to murder innocent people."

"Innocent? Hah, hardly. You do know that these are gang leaders that were killed, don't you?" said Saikhan, frowning at the young man.

"I do, but I still don't fully understand his intentions on murdering them. To me, just because they committed a crime, even if it is a capital one, doesn't mean that that gives someone else the right to murder them! That is wrong, on so many levels. We should imprison, re-educate and reform those who commit crimes. Otherwise, how are we any higher than beasts who kill each other over who is at the top with the most scraps at the table?"

"So what can you give us? How can you prove that Inuzuka was responsible for this? Yes, he inherited the business from his father who passed away a few years ago, but from what I heard, he doesn't have much say in what goes on there."

"And yet he gladly takes the money. He definitely has motives to deal with the Equalists. To him, it's another profit venture, and if it just happens to coincide with his need to see benders tormented and burned to a crisp, then… by all means, right? He is also delusional enough to hire benders to kill other benders. That, or he thinks that they'll kill each other off and that's another reason why he would do it, but, really, I'm not sure how they ended up in the ground like that. You are one of the best earthbenders in the world, I'm certain, being the daughter of a legend like Toph, so I have to take your word for it when you say that it was bending that put them underground like that.

"However, I do have something extra that may make things easier. There are some secret tunnels underneath the Inuzuka estate and the Inuzuka Ship Manufacturing Co. I brought the blueprints with me."

"We went over those. What _else_ can you give me?"

Sasuke sighed, "I am afraid, that is all that I was able to. I'm sorry that you were unable to find any concrete evidence at the scene, but… hopefully you'll have better luck in those tunnels."

Beifong turned to look at Saikhan and said, "Leave."

"Uh, sure." Saikhan glanced back at Sasuke and then turned to use his bending on the wall and go onto the other side.

Beifong still had her arms crossed, but she pushed herself away from the wall and stood in front of him, glaring down at him with a look of contempt on her face. "There is more to this than you are letting on."

Sasuke blinked and said, "I'm certain there is more than _I know_, but I've told you everything!"

Scowling, she said, "How is Naruto doing?"

Sasuke didn't even bat an eyelash. "Excuse me?"

"You know," she asked, smiling as she walked around him, appearing by his side and holding her hand out to where she thought Naruto's height was, "Yea high… prettiest blue eyes you'd see on a man and bright blond hair… nice complexion with a touch of flamboyance and a bit of a temper problem? No, huh? How strange… had you pegged for the type of person that would be attracted to him. He's a sneaky bastard, but he's also been known to draw in people who have nothing left to lose."

Sasuke glared. "Are we finished here? Because otherwise, send me to jail and see how that turns out for you guys when you have to respond to reporters on this bullshit. This government is sick and corrupted if it can suspend a person's citizenship because they tried to do the right thing."

Lin sighed and opened a passage for him to step out. "You're free to go. Thank you for your cooperation, Saikhan will escort you to your cell… we have to hold you overnight so that we can follow up on what you've told us about the Inuzuka company. Afterwards you'll be able to contact your lawyer."

Sasuke stood up and walked toward the opening before turning back and saying, "I am tired of being useless to all sides of the equation. I do not want to side with Equalists and I have no sympathy for benders. I just want to be a Republic City citizen and earn my way. I don't want to make the same mistakes my family made."

Beifong listened to him speak before nodding and saying, "I'll try and find something. As was agreed, if your information aids us in any way then we'll see to getting the charges against you dropped. Your lawyer will see you very soon and you may then make arrangements to post bail."

Sasuke nodded, then turned and followed Saikhan to his temporary cell there at HQ.

After a minute or two of just sitting there, Lin growled at the feeling in the pit of her stomach and it growled back. She propped her head up on her palm and leaned her elbow onto the table beside her. "Shut up, I know. He's so full of it."

oOo

Korra was not feeling well. She had just agreed to join Tarrlok's strike force against the forces of Amon, after being pressured into it by him and a bunch of reporters calling her out on her fears. She noticed that drinks were being passed around and she immediately sought them out.

Heading upstairs to find a balcony and drink her drink in peace, and away from Tenzin's ever-watchful eye, Korra was surprised to see a flash of orange there on the balcony that she was walking out to.

She shook in her boots, both excited and fearful that the man she had met at the tea shop was standing there, leaning against the balcony with a drink in his hand and a toothpick in between his teeth. She could see him from an angle that allowed her to see the faraway expression on his face.

_So I'm not the only one with worries, huh?_

Smiling, Korra was happy to find this one saving grace about this party that Tarrlok had thrown in her honor. Had she known that the blond was going to be here, she would have sought him out as soon as she saw Asami and Mako hanging off of each other earlier. God it was a shitty evening… then with what Beifong said about her not doing anything to deserve a party like that, Korra was absolutely crushed. And then _he_ just happens to be there, sipping his drink and staring off into space.

_Why can't you say something to him then,_ Korra asked herself. She looked at her glass, then downed it in one drink and looked ahead, a little surprised to see that he was now leaning backwards on the balustrade, a coy smirk on his face as he watched her finish her drink.

"Hey, that was pretty good," he said, taking another sip of his drink before setting it down on a small table nearby. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Avatar Korra."

Korra pouted, and said, "You know who I am, but I have no idea who you are. It isn't fair."

Naruto grinned and said, "Life's not fair, sweetie. Come, have a seat with me. I'll get us another drink."

Korra nodded and took her seat at the table there on the balcony. It was small, for two people, sort of like the table at the tea house that she had sat in, except it was much more elegant looking.

Her hands touched the glass surface and she took a deep breath as she felt the cool glass against the skin of her palms.

The blond made good on his promise to get them another drink, and Korra didn't think twice about how dangerous it was to let a stranger grab her drink for her. He didn't take long though, and she just had this feeling that she could trust him, at least, to some extent.

"That was fast."

Smiling, Naruto sat down and said, "Yes, I am quick on my feet when I am motivated."

Chuckling, "Oh really? I bet I could beat you in a race."

Scoffing, he said, "You wish. You haven't seen me in action, but I do know a little bit about you."

Blushing, Korra said, "Please tell me your name."

Teasingly, he said, "Naruto Uzumaki. And here I was trying to protect you."

Korra snorted, then leaned in and said, "Oh yeah? You were just protecting the weak, little avatar? You must think I'm weak because I'm a woman."

Smirking, Naruto said, "Ever meet a woman named Tsunade? No? Well, let's just say that isn't why… what I meant is, once you learned my name, it would only be a matter of time before I got attached to you…"

Trying to hide her blushing cheeks, Korra sipped her drink even as she felt the alcohol from before take effect. Damn did that first drink work fast! "Is that a bad thing?" Remember how happy Mako looked next to Asami Sato, Korra wondered if that meant that the two were now a couple. Obviously they were dating now, but would it last? Korra's throttled heart felt some hope, though, when she looked into the beautiful blue eyes of the man sitting across from her. They shined like the moonlight bouncing off of a lake, and Korra found that she was starting to worry less and less about Mako's relationship with Hiroshi Sato's daughter.

"I'm the type of man," he said, breaking her out of her thoughts, "that will do anything necessary to get what I want. I'm ruthless and calculating, and if I so desired your love then I wouldn't let anything stop me from attaining it."

Korra choked on her next drink, staring at the blond incredulously. She groaned and set the drink down, coughing a few times to get the drink out of the wrong tube and back into her esophagus. "Jeez… you're pretty forward, aren't you?"

He smirked, "I am quite honest with myself. Am I wrong to feel that way?"

Korra looked down at her drink to try and think. He was definitely eccentric, what with his get up and all, but she found his confidence attractive. It was almost on the verge of being arrogant, but even that wasn't adequate in describing the way he was.

And she found that she liked this quality of semi-arrogance in him. "No," she finally said, "You're not wrong, it's just… strange hearing someone be so forward with the way that they feel."

Naruto smiled and nodded, saying, "It must be hard for you…"

Korra's eyes shot upwards to stare into his as he reached out and gently caressed the knuckles of her hand as she gripped the glass tightly.

She looked back down to glance at his hand, which was still stroking hers, and then back up into his eyes as she asked, "What?"

"As the Avatar, you have to be very careful about what you do or say. As a person, every step you take, or the words that you speak, any of them can get you into serious trouble. Normally it's not too difficult to navigate through life with the right attitude, as even people of debilitating circumstances have been known to not only persevere, but thrive, but it's a totally different game for the Avatar."

Korra listened intently, not sure where this was going exactly, but a little shocked that he was able to put himself into her shoes long enough to even think what he had just spoken to her.

"If you were only Korra, a beautiful young woman visiting a place like Republic City, enjoying the sights and joining the pro bending circuit because you loved it-and I know you love it, I saw you perform twice already, after all-then maybe things would be a little easier for you. All you would have to worry about is what Korra felt, and what she wanted and desired, and you would only have to deal with her own desires and aspirations, her fears and her shortcomings…"

Frowning, Naruto said, "But you know, as the Avatar, you also have to worry about this anti-bending sentiment in the city. And this man, Amon, I hear he is as dangerous as they come. I understand if you feel intimidated by a monster like that. You also have to live up to everyone's expectations… I'm sorry to say, but I heard what Lin Beifong said to you earlier-"

Korra cringed and looked down at the table, muttering _I didn't even see you..._

But without skipping a beat, Naruto leaned over and cupped her chin with his index finger, lifting her head up and shaking his head, saying, "-but I didn't say that I agree with her. I think it takes a lot of courage just to get up in the morning, knowing that the entire world expects you to keep its lazy ass in check. And maybe you haven't yet done all that you wanted to for the city and its people, but I can tell that you want nothing more than to show the world that you really are worth it, both as an avatar, and as a woman."

Korra's heart beat steadily in her chest. She did not try to pull away when he cupped her cheek, his lips curving slightly as he smiled at her.

"How do you know so much about me?" she spoke, barely above a whisper as she stared into his eyes. Before she knew it, Korra was leaning in over the table, her eyes searching in his for some sign that he was just toying with her. Instead, all she found was sincerity, and Korra had to mercilessly stamp out any thought of shedding tears in front of the man when she found none.

She didn't want to join Tarrlok's task force. She was scared of not being a strong enough bender to take on someone as dangerous as Amon. How could she not be? He was able to take someone's bending away. It was the most terrifying nightmare she had suffered in the past few nights, one of her being ambushed in her room by Amon and his chi blockers, and then having her bending stripped from her. What sort of Avatar couldn't use bending? The worst one in existence, probably.

Korra knew that type of thinking was bad for her. It would only make her feel less and less worthy of being born as the Avatar. She always felt like she had been chosen for a reason; that she was the Avatar because no one else in that time could be. And to hear Naruto reach in, as if he could look right past her eyes into her soul, and bring to light all of the fears that crawled underneath her skin and all of the conflicting emotions that she felt in her very core… to hear him say it, she wondered just what he _didn't_ know about her.

Naruto noticed she had let go of the glass and so he took her hand completely, gripping it tight as he whispered back, "Let's just say that I can tell when someone has that look in their eyes; that look that says she'll do anything she has to do get what she desires. Even if it means burning herself in the process."

Korra's eyes squeezed shut and she leaned forward even more, her lips parted and her intent clear. She didn't know what she would do if he denied her, but right here, right now, she was putting herself out there. What he did next dictated how this relationship was going to go.

When she didn't feel his lips, her face turned completely red and she had to look away to keep him from seeing the dejected look on her face. She kept her eyes closed, trying not to look at him, but when she felt a pair of hands cup her face she opened her eyes.

He had walked around the table and was now standing in front of her, bent down as he leaned in to sear his lips into hers. She moaned into his mouth as he used his hands to control her and mold her like clay. She didn't know what she felt throughout the kiss, but she didn't want it to end.

Korra wrapped her arms around his neck and stood up into his arms as he held her against the balustrade, their lips parting enough for her to feel his tongue play with hers. She shuddered as she felt his hands caress her arms and the goose bumps that permeated her skin, and was tremendously at ease with the fact that she was starting to feel buzzed. There was no way she would have done this sort of thing sober with a man she had only met once before, right?

Mako, having broken away from Asami and her father, was standing just outside of the balcony, looking out at the blond and the brunette kissing under the moonlight. He didn't know what to say. Did he have the right to say anything? He was going to start seriously dating a beautiful young woman himself, so why did he feel so jealous… so resentful?

It wouldn't hit the firebender right then and he wouldn't realize it until later that night, when he was at home staring up at the ceiling, but the reason why he felt that way was because, deep down inside, he had started to develop feelings for the Avatar. And to him, this was a betrayal. Coincidentally, he didn't see it the same way toward Korra when he was with Asami.

At the time, however, Mako decided to just leave the two alone. He had went there in the first place trying to find Korra so he could check up on her since she hadn't been seen for quite a while after she was practically interrogated by the mob of reporters out by the staircase. But now all he wanted to do was get the hell out of there, so he snuck away as quietly as possible, not noticing the open eye of Naruto "Uzumaki" as he looked on with interest even as he kissed the Avatar's neck, drawing a sharp sigh from her lips as she held him tight, attempting to melt her body into the heat radiating from of his.

oOo

When it felt like neither of them could hold themselves back any further, Korra asked, "When can I see you again?"

"Maybe I can come see you. Would you be alright with me visiting you while you train?"

Blushing, Korra wondered about how they would be able to be intimate in such a location. Maybe he just wanted to know more about her and see just how powerful a bender she was. She might think that was a little bit odd, maybe even note that he had some kind of ulterior motive in doing so had her head been a little clearer, but instead she just thought it was sweet.

"Yeah, I think that would be OK. Can you meet me at the docks tomorrow? I will tell Tenzin that I'll be having a guest over for dinner."

"Sounds good… You know, I never told you when you first came out here, but you are positively stunning."

Blushing, Korra shoved him lightly and said, "Quit lying. I know I'm kind of plain." _Not anything like that girl Mako was hanging around. What was her name again?_

"I'm telling the truth. Do I look like the type of man who would say anything he had to just to get a pretty girl to like me?" He smiled coyly, tickling her side with his fingertips as he leaned in for another kiss.

Korra sighed and complied, sharing her lips with him once more before whispering into his ear, "You're so _bad_."

Naruto grinned and said, "But that's exactly why I'm _so good_."

His hands fingered her hair tenderly, bringing some of it from behind her neck so that he could smell it directly, making her knees weak when she heard him moan against her neck.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Naruto grinned, but wouldn't let go, his lips seeking hers again and they continued to share kisses even as she walked backwards away from the balcony. "I don't know if I'm too keen with the idea of letting you leave in the first place."

She gasped into his mouth when his hand found her thigh and then her butt. She whispered in between kisses, still trying to walk backwards though she was pulling him along as well with her arms fastened securely around his neck, "I. Need. To. Uh! Go! Please… I promise… see you… tomorrow."

Smirking, Naruto finally let her go. "I respect someone who can keep their word."

"I can," Korra insisted, her knees shaking as she tried to keep herself standing after their little make-out session under the moonlight. "I promise. Tomorrow at five, that way we can hang out for a bit before dinner."

Naruto nodded and said, "Tomorrow at five."

Korra stared at him, nodding slowly. She wished he would just grab her and keep kissing her, but she really had to get going. What if Tenzin caught them up here? Then she was sure that he'd never approve of the blond, and she started to ask herself why she even cared about that in the first place.

"Bye," she called out, turning around and leaving before he could try to grab her again.

Naruto's smirk didn't let up, even when he heard footsteps coming from behind him.

"And when, exactly, did you and Avatar Korra become so close?" she asked.

Naruto turned around and said, "It's been a long time, Beifong. You look as lovely and headstrong as ever."

Lin crossed her arms and glared heavily at the young man as she walked out into the moonlight, glaring at him.

"Did you watch that whole time? You know, I didn't take you for a voyeur… what if we had decided to go a little further out here? Would you have kept watching?"

Beifong bristled at the allegation and said, "Shut up. Tell me what you are playing at with Korra."

Frowning, Naruto leaned on the railing and said, "A little overprotective aren't we? She's a woman, I'm a man. We were just sharing an intimate moment and exploring our innermost feelings, that's all."

"Naruto, if you hurt her…"

"Wow, momma-platypus-bear! You really do care about her, don't you? Is that why you said what you said? To motivate her?"

Lin turned around and said, "I'll be watching you. Don't think you'll be able to try anything funny tomorrow."

Naruto, realizing what she was implying, waved and called out, "Alright old lady! See ya tomorrow for dinner!"

Lin would have strangled him right then and there if she thought that she could have gotten away with it. Hell, she was the chief of police, who was going to know?

However, she knew better. The reason why she hadn't acted against Naruto wasn't out of fear of repercussions from the law. She could still feel his shadow even when she left the ballroom later that night, and her nightmares were filled with those terrifyingly dire, bright blue eyes. She had given up believing that a scared little boy still resided in the mind, body or soul of that corrupted creature that stood out on the balcony, basking in the moonlight.

oOo

**Author: **_I chose the quote up at the top because I believe it is important to realize just how vulnerable Korra is at this point in the story, both in my story and in the TV series. She has no 'family' other than Tenzin and his family, and she is still in the boding process with them, as well as with her teammates, one of which she was fostering romantic feelings for, only to see him walk in with a bombshell at __**her **__celebratory ball. That __**must**__ have pissed her off._

I hope you liked this chapter. I guess this is going to go a little further than I anticipated. This will be the last chapter that I update for this story until I write more for The Gilded Hero, so watch out for that update if you enjoy that story coming next. Maybe even tomorrow if I finish this test online in a couple of minutes.

As always, please let me know what you think here by review or visit my page on deviantArt if you'd like to see some artwork or more stories there, or submit your own work to our group. We're always looking for more people.

On a final note: given the rating of this particular fic, I'm curious as to who wants to see a lemon in the future? I don't want to alienate my readers who would rather not see that, so if you have anything against it let me know and I will take it into consideration as I write.


	4. Chapter 4

"Sorry Sasuke." - Lazebe.

oOo

"Korra, it's time."

Korra was talking with Tenzin for a short time about what to expect out there while in Tarrlok's task force when, speak of the devil, the tall, pony-tailed councilman walked up to the pair with a pleased smile on his face. Tenzin scowled, knowing that that smile came from the satisfaction he felt from convincing Korra to join his group in their 'fight against the equalists', even after Tenzin had kicked him out of his home once she declined before.

Korra gave Tenzin a look and smiled, saying, "Don't worry about me. I'll be OK."

Tenzin sighed, saying, "I know you will, Korra. Pema will prepare a meal for you in case you get hungry when you come back."

Korra offered an infectious grin that had Tenzin smile in return. Even the look in Tarrlok's eyes softened a bit as he saw the young girl. Even though she was the avatar, she was nothing more than a child. He would use her up until she was useless to him and he'd discard her.

As the wheels in his head began to spin, Tarrlok noticed a figure standing at an angle, his head turned as he looked across the ballroom at the group. He focused his eyes on the man and noticed that he was looking specifically at him. Brushing away a morbid feeling that entered the pit of his stomach, Tarrlok nodded when Korra said she was ready to go. "Off we go, then."

oOo

Naruto had allowed Tarrlok to see him within the crowd. He wanted the man to be able to identify him later when he _dealt_ with him. Having Korra on his _taskforce _meant that Naruto would have less time to mold her to his liking. Looking inwards, he assessed the situation that was revealed to him earlier and looked on curiously even as Tarrlok's gaze shifted away from him. _'This man… I did not account for his involvement. I wonder what his intentions are with the Avatar. I will have to keep an eye on them later tonight.'_

Without looking, he knew that Lin was still watching him from way out in the back, upstairs and behind some pillars. She was discreet, hidden from everyone else in her grey and black suit which camouflaged nicely into the background of the dark second floor. The lights had been turned off even when he and Korra had been up there because the ball was downstairs and the rooms upstairs were for other events and occasions.

Naruto, however, wasn't pleased that she seemed to be watching him so intently. What had given her the idea that he was involved at all was beyond him. He had been invited because his actual name was on several of the larger businesses that he owned, though many more were set up so that he didn't have to be involved at all. They just cut him a part of the check when everything was said and done and adjusted the books well enough that it could be hidden as charities, cost of repairs and other things.

Either way, Naruto spent very little money on himself. Other than his rather humble apartment, considering his wealth, and enough clothes and drinks to get through any situation, Naruto was very frugal with his spending. He was always saving money, always using it only when absolutely necessary. After all, why use your money when you could use someone else's?

Naruto, however, also had other worries. Being the leader of the new Republic City mob, he had to decide how he was going to deal with the anti-bending movement since many of his thugs were benders and damn effective when he put them all in the right place. He didn't need Amon running around, ruining his shit because he had some gripe against benders. _Boo-fucking-hoo._

Naruto likened his involvement as the player in a chess game, except instead of envisioning someone like Beifong as his opponent-an idea that he found utterly laughable- he imagined playing against himself.

_How would I counter myself? What would I do to get to me and kill or at least incapacitate me? How would I find out what my weaknesses are? What would I do once I found out what those were? Who would be the last person that I would see coming, who could try and get the one-up on me?_

If he was being honest with himself, killing Lin Beifong would have probably been the best course of action, because he already had Saikhan in his pocket, though the man didn't even know it was him. By proxy, he blackmailed the man and threatened his family, even going so far as to visit his ex-wife at her home with their son and his two daughters personally.

oOo

(Four months ago)

He tanned, changed his hair color and used makeup with a false nose to be certain that they'd never be able to properly ID him.

He then patrolled the streets until he found a police officer that seemed to be about his same size, then he tailed him for a week before finally moving in at the middle of the night and stealing his police uniform from his room. The man hadn't even noticed and thought that he must have left it at HQ or something.

Afterwards, he waited until Saikhan met up with his children during the weekend and followed them home when their mother came to pick them up. That night, he knocked on her door and told her that Saikhan was being targeted by the head of the mob within Republic City and that he was sent over as a precaution until Saikhan could disperse more assistance to them or come to visit them himself. He insisted that they not make any phone calls because even some of the men and women in law enforcement couldn't be trusted and they were watching his phone while Saikhan went underground to try and find the criminal responsible for the mark on her ex-husband. She seemed wary at first, but after he showed her a fabricated ID using the name Eikichi Onizuka, described the kind of work he did there at HQ, as well as why Saikhan trusted him enough to send him to look after his family, Naruto spent the rest of the night watching over his wife, his son and his two daughters. In the middle of the night, with gloved hands and a sharp knife, he cut a lock of hair from each of Saikhan's family members as they slept. Standing in the room of Saikhan's eldest daughter, an idea came to mind that he was sure would scare the old man into submission.

The next day, Saikhan got a call from his ex-wife asking if he was OK, saying that the police officer he had sent over was already gone and had left a note saying that they had captured the man responsible for the threat. While listening to the mother of his children and asking her what the hell she was talking about, Saikhan noticed a small package on his desk and wondered where it had come from. It read, "You can trust me" on the front. He opened it as his wife talked about how charming the young man was and how even their eldest daughter had taken a liking to him. They had talked about quite a few things, actually, and the smiling gentlemen had put their minds at ease the entire time.

Saikhan shook his head as he opened the small box that was barely bigger than his palm, saying, "Dear, I didn't send anyone to watch over you, are you sure you're not talking about a boyfriend of yours or something?"

"Don't call me _dear_, Saikhan! I thought…!" She gritted her teeth and he could hear her breathing heavily through the phone as she started to hyperventilate, "He said that you were being targeted by some kind of king pin or crime overlord…" suddenly she went quiet for a bit and he could hear her say, probably to their eldest daughter, '_I don't know, darling, check your room again or the laundry. Maybe you forgot to wash them.'_

"There's no such thing as a criminal kingpin in Republic City, dear," he explained, "they're all sorted out into gangs called triads that are constantly vying for power. Besides, even if there was, what would such a man want with me?" he asked, incredulously, ignoring the conversation that was taking place in the background. Then, after a few moments, something clicked as he picked up one of the four strange dolls that were sitting in the box, locks of hair tied to their backs in a folded piece of paper by string.

That hair… all different colors except two of them which were red headed… it looked very familiar. "Wait… are you saying that someone actually… that this man went into the house and spent the night there? With my children? And you didn't even know who he was and you just trusted him like that and didn't even try to contact me? What the hell were you thinking?!"

"He told me that your men couldn't be trusted at the station! What was I going to say? He came in dressed as one of your officers and even walked and talked like them. Oh god… oh god… Saikhan, he flirted with your daughter for fucks sake! I thought it was harmless… I… I…"

This was scary. He had thought the woman was just going senile, talking about a handsome young man just to piss him off or something. But she was being serious. And then this gift… there were four string dolls like voodoo dolls, minus all of the pins. Was that a note at the bottom?

"Saikhan! What the hell is going on! You better tell me why there was a stranger in my house last night! You better not be lying to me or playing some kind of screwed up trick because I swear I will have all of your rights to the kids stripped away before the day is up!"

Saikhan picked up the piece of folded paper, noting that there was a soft fabric at the bottom of the box, but he ignored it and opened the folded paper, his eyes widened as he read what was inside.

_Don't worry, my friend. You can trust me. Since you're no longer in the picture, I'll be watching over your lovely family for you from now on._

_Signed,_

_Officer Eikichi Onizuka_

Saikhan grabbed the garment at the bottom of the box and he immediately let go when he got a better look at it. His eyes widened and his hands shook as he wondered just what kind of message this was.

"Saikhan?" he heard over the phone. "Saikhan!"

"I am coming over right now!"

Click.

Saikhan ran out the door faster than he had ever ran anywhere in his life. What he left behind on the counter was the four dolls with the little locks of hair tied to them and a pair of pink panties with a smiley face painted on the front in red.

oOo

No, killing Beifong was the wrong move right now. She was close to Korra, even if Korra didn't know it yet. The girl would need guidance and she'd rely on this woman in the future. Naruto was certain of it.

Plus, he'd always had a thing for the hot-headed metal bender and women in authority in general. It would be a shame if he killed her without at least _trying_ to get into that little suit of hers. He had no qualms about her age, or the difference between hers and his, of course, that was all superficial, because sexiness was not something that could be readily masked by something arbitrary like age. It was morals in society that dictated the equally arbitrary "age of adulthood" where a person had become an adult. If Naruto allowed himself to toy with the subject, then he would surmise that he must have been raped or molested. After all, he had his first sexual encounter on his thirteenth birthday.

Even though Korra was quite young at seventeen years old and still maturing into a grown woman, she wasn't quite there yet. Unlike Naruto, who had been a child when he had matured into adulthood, and not just because of the sex, Korra was still immature, and that was the very reason why Naruto was so interested in her development.

If he had met her a year later, perhaps, he might have missed out on the chance to catch her in this growing phase and she would have dealt with her first relationship with Mako instead of him, whom Naruto figured would have likely dumped Asami for the Avatar. He hadn't missed the look on Mako's face before he left, while Naruto appeared to be busy exploring Korra's mouth like a dentist who operated only by tongue.

Instead, now _he _could be the one who took Korra and sculpted the Avatar to his liking. He would influence all of her decisions, all of her traits of character and her goals and aspirations, and then he would consume her, and she would love him for it.

He had to admit that she had a body like no other. It was a body that was carved by her constant training in the martial arts and the movement methods of each of the four bending techniques. It didn't hurt that she was in the pro bending circuit either. He reminisced, and could once again feel her muscle like taut, yet supple chord all along her body as his hands roamed her back and her sides, her thighs, and then there was that firm buttocks of hers. He hadn't been quite sure, when he groped her, if her flesh melted away at his touch or if it was his hand that was melting when he touched her.

Whatever the case, he enjoyed that body of hers, and he looked forward to seeing her again because of it, if not for any other reason.

Seeing his chance for a clean escape as the Avatar left the building, Naruto snuck out by using the crowd and left Beifong unable to follow.

Noticing he had managed to squeeze through and that she wouldn't be able to get through the crowd quick enough, Lin used her metal bending to whisk her out of a window by shooting her cable upwards toward the roof where she had it form into a grappling hook. She jumped out of the window and ran along the wall before jumping outward and reforming the hook so she could turn a corner to wrap back around the front of the building and catch the blond by surprise.

However, when she stood up on the roof of the ballroom, she saw not a lick of orange anywhere. "This isn't possible. He wears such bright colors… it should be impossible for me not to spot him now among the crowd… wait, unless he's not in the crowd anymore! Ugh!" Beifong moved to scout around the rest of the building, hoping to find him before he could get too far.

Naruto, however, smirked as he still stood inside of the building, waiting for his cab to come up close before he left, never spotted again that night by the chief of police.

"Hello sir," his driver said, jogging up to him with a large coat in her arms, a dark purple scarf around her neck and a flat cap in one hand. She immediately placed the hat on his head, adjusting it only slightly until he wore it at a slight angle, before stepping behind him and lifting the leather coat over his shoulders, which he wore draped over his person rather than slipping his arms through the long sleeves. Sakura then walked back around him again and wrapped the scarf around his neck, adjusting it and folding it just right so that it resembled the fitting style of the one which Mako wore to the party.

When they walked together, back to the car, Beifong was standing in the front of the building, searching the crowd for any sign of him or someone she could recognize that was associated with him. Naruto smiled as Sakura opened the door to his car for him, then went to sit in the driver's seat. She turned her head to glance back at him, looking a little flustered. "Good to see you again!"

Naruto smiled softly at the pink-haired girl. "Thank you, Sakura. Same to you. By the rosy pink on your face, I take it your date with Sasuke went well? Or is that for me?"

Blushing, she said, "Oh, well, yes it went very well." Sakura shuddered when she remembered the night in bed with the ravenous young man. "He treated me like I've always wanted to be treated."

Naruto saw the look on her face and said, "I'm sure he did. I have some time to kill, why don't we go visit with Master Jiraiya for a short while?"

"Understood," Sakura said, swallowing as she looked into the rearview mirror and saw the predatory look in her boss's eyes. Though she was affected immensely by the look, she had the sneaking suspicion that it was directed at someone else.

oOo

(Lemon Start; Naruto and Sakura's memories)

_Naruto found that, though it was nice to feel and to see or even smell and taste a woman's body, it was something entirely different to focus on the sounds that were made during lovemaking. One, in particular, that had always captivated him was the sound of oral sex._

_He still felt and reveled in the act as the woman in between his legs pleasured him enthusiastically; however, by intentionally focusing on just listening to what she was doing, he felt like he could understand more intimately just what the act was about._

_Sure, she was a hooker and she was paid for her services, but there was obviously some kind of enthusiasm in her actions. He's received a blowjob or two before and knew the difference between a girl who was into it and one who was disgusted or bored by it, having experienced both sides of the spectrum and many of the grey areas in between._

_But this woman, she was definitely getting into it. Whether it was because she wanted him to cum faster to get it over with, or because she was attracted or at least familiar with him (as they had done this many times before) or for some other reason, he couldn't and wouldn't pretend to understand._

_He found himself enthralled by the sounds that he could hear, sounds that were often drowned out by the gluttonous nature of the act as a whole: such as the slick sound of her lips and her tongue as they squeezed around him and slid up and down; or of her lips smacking together as she pulled away from him suddenly, the clicking of her tongue as she pondered the taste and then the sound of her catching a breath immediately afterward; the scraping sound that he swore he could hear reverberating through his body when she bared her teeth and dragged them from the base of his cock all of the way up to just before his tip, where she exchanged the potentially deadly teeth with her beautiful, full lips which teased his tip erotically as she released a content mewl, stripping from him his pride and causing him to quiver and moan beneath her._

_Yes, he was thoroughly teased and had succumbed to the feeling of fear in what he felt was a dangerous game that he was playing with the pink-haired girl. But when she was attending to something as admittedly selfish, on his part, as his demands to cum in her mouth, Naruto couldn't blame her, for she must have derived some sense of power by making him quiver so. So be it that he felt subdued, for the purpose of the act was to derive pleasure from it in the first place, and he wasn't going to let something foolish like pride get in the way of enjoying a moment like this._

_His eyes looked down and he saw the Sakura's emerald eyes staring back into his. She had only started working in the brothel a few years ago, though she had lived there for years prior after being birthed by one of the whores who worked there. Poor girl, he thought. She was a symptom of a life in this dreary establishment and had lived her life here in the brothel learning the worst things she could have learned as a young girl, probably never once imagining herself to be anything other than a call girl like her mother was._

_Naruto had always chosen her because whenever he had sex with her, he felt like he was making love to Yuu. Aside from the pink hair, Yuu was very much like the usually submissive, albeit spunky young girl that he had met here at the brothel. He imagined the beautiful woman and wondered how things would have worked out if he had been a few years' older-old enough to protect her and make his own decisions in life rather than allow the will of another man to dictate his very existence as a street urchin._

"_Sakura," he whispered to her, eyes blinking as if he had just woken from a deep slumber, "That was… it felt so good."_

_She smiled meekly at him as she kissed him gently on his throbbing head, stroking it near the base with her delicate hand as she said, "You weren't even looking… you had your eyes closed the entire time… were you thinking of someone else?"_

_Naruto looked into her eyes and he could tell she knew, so he just nodded._

"_I see… what was she like? You must have loved her, whoever it is." She smiled as she stood up, brushing her body the entire way against him as if losing contact would mean she'd lose him forever. With the head of his penis, he felt everything from the space between her supple breasts to the tender flesh of her abdomen and the small pit of her belly button as she moved upwards. He could see a glistening trail of pre-cum that was marked by a series of droplets that she was already now starting to absorb into her skin. This woman was __**incredibly**__ well-versed in her job._

_He sighed and looked away, not sure if he should talk about Yuu in that way. "I don't know… I think I got attached to her, but I don't know if I really loved her. I didn't spend a lot of time with her while she was here in the city. Once she left, I… I shouldn't be telling you this…"_

_Sakura smiled and kissed him on the cheek, whispering into his ear, "Pretend I'm her… Tell her how you really feel."_

_Naruto swallowed and let out a gasp as she eased herself onto him, taking him into her body and letting out a moan despite herself._

"_Naruto… tell me how you really feel about me," she begged, getting into character as she started to move her hips._

"_Sakura, I…"_

"_No!" she stopped, and Naruto winced when her fingernails dug into his shoulders. Her eyes peered into his and he saw the desperation there. What was that look for?_

_Bearing with it, he whispered her name, "Yuu…" he laughed, with a little heart invested into his voice as he said, "I've always wanted to say, 'I love you, Yuu'_ _because I thought it was sort of funny."_

_Sakura showed the beginnings of a smile that started with her eyes as she began to move again, taking him into her body and reveling in the feeling of intimacy that she was stemming from his love for this person named Yuu._

"_I am sorry. I never wanted to hurt you… to take your future and your virtue away from you… and afterwards, I felt guilty for wanting you-for __**needing**__ you, and your love._

"_I feel lost without you here to tell me what to do. To comfort me when I feel like I can't continue, like when I felt that I've wasted my breath on this life that for so long I've been desperately clinging to for no good reason until I met you."_

_Sakura barely let out a whimper as she picked up the pace, wrapping her arms around his neck as she tried to catch her breath. "More, please… I want to know why you loved me."_

_Naruto moaned, his eyes playing tricks on him as he saw Sakura fade away and Yuu taking her place, her beautiful eyes watching him with the same fondness that she always showed him whenever he was around. The only sincere woman in his life. So honest and good that she could endure hell and still love the child that had brought that terrible mess upon her._

_And then Naruto cried, and the moment was ruined. He shoved Sakura off of him and fell back onto the bed, moaning in agony as he remembered exactly why he loved the girl so much, and how terrible it felt to try and live her out through this pink-haired woman that he hardly knew._

_Sakura looked at him, not quite upset that he had tossed her off of him onto the cold ground from his seat on the edge of the bed. Instead, she admonished herself for taking the fantasy too far. He had feelings that he hadn't come to terms with yet for this girl who left him, even if they had never been together in the first place. She mused at how easily the heart cracked. How one could wallow in sorrow over someone they loved who likely didn't even have the faintest clue as to their friend's feelings._

_Sakura crawled back onto the bed and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her chest into his back. When she felt him tense, she held on tight and said, "It's OK! Don't be afraid, I'm Sakura again. I promise I won't do that to you ever again, alright?"_

_This wasn't the Naruto she knew. The Naruto she had come to know was roguish, charming and had a stout sense of honor and pride. It didn't matter that he was little more than a thief and an apprentice to a lecherous old man, Naruto would look someone dead in the eyes and tell them that he was better than them without a moment's hesitation._

_This man… this boy, lying in bed with her, was not the Naruto she knew, but she could tell that he had taken his last mortal breath as the sobbing finally came to an end._

_(End Lemon)_

_oOo_

(At Jiraiya's Home)

When Naruto exited the car, Sakura walked alongside him until he reached the door, then she retrieved his coat and hat, and undid his scarf so that she could take his little disguise back into the car. Naruto watched the pink-haired woman as she walked away, knowing she'd wait for him outside and keep an eye out.

"You always did have a soft spot for women, didn't you, Naruto?"

Naruto's head snapped back toward the door and his eyes narrowed. He _hated _being caught by surprise, and it seemed like Jiraiya was the only man left alive who could do it.

Glaring, Naruto said, "I'm hardly the only one."

"Hah, yeah, but at least I don't go around giving the hookers real jobs. You know she probably just goes back to the brothel after work, right?"

Naruto scoffed and said bitingly, "You confuse me with someone who takes great stock in emotional investments. I can spot quality material when I see it, and Sakura is as such, which is why I utilize her services."

Arching a brow, Jiraiya said, "You really have improved, haven't you? Read a few books, I see?"

"Enough to get by. I'd rather not risk anymore of this conversation out here in the moonlight."

"Yeah, yeah, get your ass in here." Jiraiya said, rolling his eyes as he pushed the door open a little more and said, "You're getting a little too big for your britches, kid."

Naruto ignored him and walked over to the man's bar, pouring himself a glass of gin and turning around to look at the older man as he sipped the strong drink.

"Yeah, just make yourself at home…" Jiraiya grumbled, moving to sit on the large red couch he had in his living room. Jiraiya's home, outside, seemed quaint enough, but on the inside it was entirely different. Naruto always knew that the old toad had a thing for the expensive and the exquisite. Many art pieces were posted on the walls or sitting on podiums or shelves, and he even had a collection of snake skulls sitting above the fireplace, which was the focal point of the entire room. Naruto had stepped up onto a 'gallery' area where he saw many paintings that he had seen the creation of, including one of his own that was hung up on a short wall in between the bar and the kitchen.

Naruto finished his drink and poured himself another, saying, "Would you like a drink?"

"Nah, go ahead and finish my booze though. It's OK."

"Bite me." Naruto offered, walking around the couch to sit across from the old man on the island Ottoman which was a nice, light tan color that went well with the rest of the décor in the room.

Jiraiya frowned and said, "You don't look like yourself. Did you come here to kill me or something?"

Naruto laughed and said, "No, not today old man. I'll give you fair warning when I decide I've had enough of your shit."

Jiraiya nodded, "Fair enough." Then he crossed his arms and legs and sank back into the couch even further, watching as Naruto turned to look into the fire place which Jiraiya had decided to turn on for the night. "So what gives, kid?"

"Everything is going so well for me. I can't see anything that will impede me in the near future, but I don't want to get complacent…"

Jiraiya made a grunt in understanding. He looked at the calm, calculating gaze that Naruto watched the fire with and smirked, saying, "There's more to that, isn't there? Is it a woman?"

Scoffing, Naruto said, "Hardly. I have the Avatar to deal with, but she's going to be more of a pleasure than a burden… plus, who in their lifetime gets to say they've corrupted the Avatar?"

Jiraiya's eyes widened, "You've already…?"

Laughing, Naruto shook his head, "Not just yet, but I will, and I'll make her desire me above all else in this world. I'll make it impossible to break away from me, and in the process I'll watch as her love for me burns all of the people around her and destroys everything she's worked so hard to obtain up until now."

The light of the fire danced on them and the rest of the room. Shadows writhed about like flailing snakes all along the walls and the ceiling as the two men sat in silence for a few moments, Naruto's resolve to destroy the Avatar in the worst ways possible maturing here in this very room.

Jiraiya smirked and said, "I see I've taught you far too well. Now it seems that I will have to kill you."

Naruto tensed and he immediately sought a knife hidden within his yukata as he stared at Jiraiya from the corner of his eye, not daring to move an inch unless the old man acted first. A bead of sweat dripped from his forehead and got caught on his eyebrow before breaking and trailing down towards his eye. For what seemed like a whole minute, the two of them just sat there, frozen in time as Naruto tried to establish whether or not the old man was serious or not.

Then the wood in the fire place cracked under the heat of the fire and Jiraiya guffawed at the young man. He threw his arms up in a placating manner and said, "I'm kidding kid! Damn! Relax, huh? I'm quite proud that you've caught on so well to my teachings over the past couple of years. And what you accomplished in only a year is mind-boggling."

Naruto left the rest of his gin on the ottoman, his eyes slowly turning back towards the fire. Jiraiya smiled and crossed one leg over the lap of the other as he eyed the blond young man curiously. "I heard you killed Viper. I'm grateful to you for that."

Naruto looked at the man and nodded, "Killing him was necessary, but it certainly felt good listening to him scream after what he did to Anko."

Jiraiya remained silent, though a frown appeared on his face.

"You were really attached to her, weren't you?" Naruto asked with a grin on his face.

"She was like a daughter to me… I even stopped having sex with her a couple of years ago because it was starting to feel weird. Told her I couldn't get it up anymore, but she didn't believe me. She was just happy to pose for my artwork or help me with my poetry. And she liked when I brought her presents from outside of the city. That was her favorite thing, really."

Laughing, Naruto asked, "You really told her that? That you couldn't get it up? I thought she was kidding when she told me what you said."

Glaring, Jiraiya said, "I can still scar you for life, you know. Just try me and I'll whip it out right now and show you."

Naruto groaned and said, "You're sick. You're telling me that you can get hard if I'm around? Jeez old man. I always called you a pervert, but to what extent you were, I had no idea."

With a pout, the old man grumbled as he crossed his arms in annoyance, "You're lucky I decided earlier not to kill you today, kid."

"Oh yeah? When was that decision made?"

"When I was taking a shit on the toilet. I was wiping my ass and I thought, '_Shit, he ain't even worth killing yet; let him grow a little first'_."

Naruto's jaw clenched and he glared evenly at the old man. "When that day comes, don't hold back."

"You neither, kid."

"You're going to have to stop calling me that soon," Naruto warned, standing up to leave, before he stopped and turned around to walk back toward the bar.

"I'll stop when I feel like… hey, where are you going? No, put that bottle down this instant!"

Naruto flipped him off and walked out of Jiraiya's home with the bottle of gin in hand, sipping straight from the bottle as he walked toward the car. "Later, old man!" he called out as he waved back with his free hand.

Jiraiya growled, "Son of a bitch didn't even have the proper decency to close the door, god damn it…"

Groaning and looking at how far away the door was, Jiraiya muttered _fuck it_ and just shifted his position on the couch.

oOo

"Naruto! Konohamaru has a message for you, sir!" Sakura waved and pushed the young boy toward Naruto as he sauntered over to the car, bottle of booze in his hand.

"Huh? What's up, Konohamaru?"

"I've been keeping an eye out on Avatar Korra like you asked me to the other day. I lost her for a little while, but I found out that she publically challenged Amon to a duel at midnight. It's taking place at Aang Memorial Island."

Groaning, Naruto looked up to the skies and said, "It's around eleven… Sakura, what time is it exactly?"

"Ten fifty-five, sir."

Naruto nodded and turned to look at Konohamaru, "Great job, kid. I have another assignment for you before you get done. Finish this and I'll pay you triple what I normally do."

Konohamaru's eyes widened and the boy nodded, saying, "Sure! Sure, what is it?"

Naruto said, "It's an infiltration mission so it's going to be more expensive anyways, but it's more dangerous because I want you to dig up some dirt on Councilman Tarrlok."

"Tarrlok? Ok, sure. I'll have you something you can use tomorrow morning."

"Good. Here." Naruto reached into his wallet and pulled out a wad of money, which was much more than he currently owed the young man. "In case you need to wet a few beaks near the council. Whatever is left over is yours."

Konohamaru counted it and said, "This is… alright. I understand. Good bye, boss, Miss Sakura!"

And with that, Konohamaru was gone. Naruto smirked and turned to look at Sakura, "I need to get to Aang Memorial Island. This girl doesn't know how Amon operates; he won't be there by himself and I can't risk the possibility that he'd just kill her to buy the Equalist movement some time."

"Should I get you some back up?" she offered, eyeing him curiously.

"No, did you leave all of my equipment in the trunk like I asked you to?"

Eyes widening, she grinned and said, "Yes! I did."

"Oh? You know what I'm planning?" he asked, curious over the enthusiasm in her voice.

"Yes sir! I will help you tonight!"

Naruto laughed and said, "So be it. Let's go check up on this silly girl… ah, but you know what? Let's stop by for some fireworks first."

Sakura arched a brow and said, "Fireworks? OK… I know a place that's not too out of the way. If we hurry we can make it."

They drove off to pick up the fireworks, for whatever reason Naruto had in mind, and then headed toward the docks as quickly as they could.

oOo

"This is spring-loaded," he informed Sakura, holding the large, hand-held cannon in front of her. "You aim it like this," he held it in place using two hands and used his index finger to pull the trigger and asked, "Did you hear that click? That's the locking mechanism that holds the spring in place once you pull back on this puppy like this." He showed her and then released it and gave it to her so she could try. "Once it's loaded, this should be able to shoot those toxic gas grenades right there or smoke bombs. Use the ones you think are necessary."

"I just fire from the boat then? Should I anchor?"

Shaking his head, Naruto said, "It'll take too long. You might have to pick us up quickly, so just do what you can when you're in range. If you see anyone try and attack you, make sure that you get out of here quick. I can take the Avatar and hide away with her in the dark if things get rough. I know some of the nooks and crannies from hiding out here before."

Sakura nodded and said, "I wish I could do more to help."

"Trust me, if you shoot this anywhere near the base of that statue, we'll be fine. I'll use the cover to my advantage and get her out of there before anything can happen. Wait for my signal… you'll see a lot of lights going off wherever I'm at, and that's where you should aim… ah, there's one more thing." He grinned and positioned three large cylindrical packages at an angle and tied the fuses together. "Come here and take a look at this."

Sakura crouched down and he said, "When you see my fireworks display going off, I want you to light this _before_ you start using that projectile launcher. Just turn the boat around and try to stay flush with that dock over there, you see it?" Sakura looked out toward the dock which was furthest away and nodded. "That should be the sweet spot," he said with a wink.

After getting his gear all situated on his person, Naruto grinned and stepped with one leg up on the edge of the boat and watched the shore carefully, saying "Alright, let's get this show on the road! There's a spot right over there, you see it? Drop me off there."

Even from where they pulled up to on the island, they could see that Korra was standing near the clock, her arms crossed over her chest and a serious look on her face. Then the clock struck twelve and she winced at the loud sound of the bells. Naruto hopped out of the boat, further on down the island and watched in the darkness as Sakura pulled away from the shore and get back to her position.

Naruto took out a long toothpick and chewed on the end as he waited. His eyes followed the brunette when he noticed Korra moving. She was muttering something as she walked out in front of the double doors that led into the monument. _If I was going to capture her, this would be the time._

Watching carefully, he adjusted the backpack he was wearing and reached into his Yukata to make sure that he had a firm grip on his knife as he started to move.

When Korra was dragged into the base of the monument, Naruto made his move. _Time to go!_

oOo

With all of the commotion that Korra had caused initially, it wasn't hard for Naruto to sneak into the room as she was blasting away with her firebending. He snuck in and used the shadows to his advantage as he reached into his backpack and started setting up the fireworks, one by one.

"I received your invitation, young Avatar," spoke Amon as he trudged toward her from the shadows, as if to show his annoyance with the little girl who had called him out to meet her long before he intended.

Korra watched in horror as he reached for her face, knowing full and well what he was capable of taking from her. She closed her eyes and tried to look away, but when he took her chin, Korra did the best she could not to let a tear show when he spoke. "Our showdown, while inevitable, is premature. Although it would be the simplest thing for me to take your bending away right now, I won't."

While Amon was busy dealing with his hard on over the sound of his own voice, Naruto gently nudged an Equalist beside him who was further in the back. He didn't seem to want to talk, so Naruto whispered, saying, "Hey, you got a light?"

Mumbling, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a cartridge lighter, passing it along to his 'brother' without paying attention to who was actually talking to him.

Shaking his head, Naruto just sighed and opened the lighter, whispering his thanks as he turned on the flame behind the man's back so that it wouldn't reach Amon during his overly dramatic soliloquy.

"You'd only become a martyr. Benders from every nation would rally behind your _untimely _demise. But _I assure you_, I have a plan, and I'm saving _you_ for last. Then, you'll get your duel, and I _will_… destroy you."

Then, just as he was about to strike the Avatar to knock her unconscious, all of his men jumped when they saw one of their own get thrown into the center of the room, yelling back, "Hey, what gives?!" when suddenly everyone in the room, including Amon and Korra, noticed the fuse that had been lit and the vest of firecrackers that he was wearing, for some reason.

"Uh, why are you wearing all of those firecrackers?"

What should have been said was, '_Get those off of you now!' _because the man wearing the prank suit didn't even have time to look down and assess the situation when suddenly the lit fuse split and went to different lines within the vest at the same time.

Needless to say, the Equalist started running around in the center of the room, screaming and trying in vain to remove the vest. Each time he grabbed for it, more firecrackers went off that popped in his hands. The chi-blocker's suit was made for movement, with only a little bit of padding in key areas, but the pain he was feeling was coming from the sheer volume of mega-sized firecrackers that left holes even in the armored padding and left him with terrible welts all over his torso that would likely put him in the hospital for the next couple of days.

Amon turned away from the Avatar for a moment, while muttering, _"What _on earth_…"_

While they were focused on the firecracker suit hopping around and screaming, and then writhing on the floor in the center of the room, Naruto fired a slew of needles that caught the limbs of each of the chi-blockers that were tying Korra up. When they fell, Amon was about to strike the Avatar when he saw something roll underneath him with a fuse quickly burning up.

Keeping his cool, the Equalist leader jumped out of the way quickly enough to dodge the spinning fireworks that he thought was some kind of explosive device. Amon looked around the room to try and find the source of all of this commotion and yelled, "Find whoever is responsible for this!"

The flashing lights from the fireworks made it hard to see as something had knocked out each of the lights that they had set up around them. Their night-vision lenses worked against them as more and more fireworks started going off around the room, shooting sparks everywhere and making it nearly impossible to see any movement in the chaos of it all. Rockets fired, whistling as they bounced off of the walls of the giant room, some even hitting a chi blocker or two, and firecrackers popped, effectively drowning out the sound of anything else going on in the room as the acrid smell of the explosive powder from the fireworks filled the air.

Amon spun around just in time to dodge a needle to the back of the neck, which would have likely killed if not paralyzed him. How he saw it, even Naruto wasn't quite sure. He struck at the shadow in the darkness and his eyes widened when he saw who the bright blue eyes and blond hair belonged to before Naruto disappeared into a cloud of smoke just as a slew of sparkler fireworks went off nearby. A few moments later, another series of fireworks went off that were called thunderclaps; Naruto had never lit these off in a room before, and could only guess what was going to happen once they went off.

Korra, shocked by the whole ordeal, yelped when she found herself lifted up and carried straight out the front door, her head tucking inward just in time to dodge some sort of object that was flying their way from the ocean. She looked back and saw that a cloud of smoke filled the room just as the thunderclaps went off, their shrieking sounds as they rose sounding like they were bouncing around the room before a loud booming sound like thunder went off again and again in quick succession, leaving anyone who had been unlucky enough to remain in the room disoriented and probably bleeding from the ears. Naruto looked down at the girl in his arms as he ran and realized he was fairly impressed by her situational awareness, even in a chaotic mess like that. That smoke grenade hitting her in the face could have broken her neck if it was going fast enough and she wasn't prepared for it. He ran out toward the shore, using the smoke to cloud his movements even as the equalist party burst out from underneath the monument, with orders to kill the blond.

When they looked up, however, they saw a barrage of bolts flying their way, whistling as the rocket candles were shot out of their canisters by the hundreds.

Korra's eyes sparkled as she looked up at the fireworks, not caring in the least that they were aimed at them. She felt safe in this man's arms, and he obviously knew what he was doing. Naruto, looked at his charge as he ran along the shore line, moving as far away as possible to give Sakura some time to get to them.

"Naruto… it's you? You came to rescue me?" Korra asked, staring up into his eyes as he ran, still carrying her.

"Now's not the time, Korra, just hold on!"

She grabbed on tight and pressed her head against his shoulder as he carried her. She didn't mind being carried. Especially not after what happened. She wasn't all too sure if she could run quickly enough at this point anyways because of the chi-blocking that had left her a little out of it, not to mention Amon's fearsome, dramatic display inside of the monument's entrance to the shrine inside that was dedicated to Aang.

"Sakura!" Naruto yelled over the sound of the remaining rockets that were still firing up from the boat, though these were hitting the monument way above their heads because of how close the boat was to the shore. He heard hasty footsteps in the sand behind him and he jumped up and turned mid-air to block a strike to the back of his head that would have likely killed him. Naruto followed up by spitting out several needles that he had tucked away in his mouth, forcing the Equalist leader to dodge. Korra watched, shocked that he was able to dodge each of the attacks, while Naruto stood there, grinning, as he waited for the very last moment to spit out the last needle that he was saving in his mouth. Amon saw the needle just as he was about to leap forward to catch the swift Naruto Uzumaki.

With a mighty yell, Amon reeled back in pain as the needle pushed through his eye, completely destroying his pupil and the nerve in the back of his eye socket. Naruto turned and jumped into the boat with Korra still in his arms just as Sakura made it to shore beside them. She aimed the launcher directly at the masked man and yelled, "Eat this! Hell yeah!" Amon saw the pink-haired woman level the launcher directly with him and he let out a groan as the smoke grenade pelted him right in the groin.

Naruto's eyes widened as he jumped into the driver's seat after setting Korra down in the back. "Nice freaking shot!" Not missing a beat, Naruto turned the steering wheel and hit the pedal, getting them out of there as quickly as he could, heading over to Air Temple Island since it wasn't too far away and Korra likely had allies there.

Amon looked on with his one good eye, being completely blind in his left one which had the needle buried deep inside; the bastard had used a short needle which would probably be difficult to remove since Amon was sure it was in deep. The masked man stood up, ready to bend the water around the boat to crush it and kill all three of them when he suddenly collapsed back to the ground after the strike he took to the groin.

_Oh god, _he thought, moaning in pain on the ground as he cupped his nut-sack, _there goes that element of fear that I've worked so hard to cultivate…_

oOo

On the ride over, Korra watched the blond man as he drove them back to Tenzin's home and her temporary residence. He did not say anything to her on the way there, instead focusing on the drive and keeping an eye out to make sure they wouldn't be in for any surprises. Korra turned to look at Sakura, who smiled sweetly at her and waved, but all Korra could think about was: _who is this girl and why is she helping him rescue me?_

Korra closed her eyes and just tried to relax as she felt the cool night air chill the water that misted against her skin and her clothes. The sound of the motor drowned out the silence as they drove as fast as was possible to the only location she could feel safe.

oOo

When Korra arrived, she smiled to see that Tenzin was just about to head on after her when he saw the boat making its way to the shore. Naruto helped the brunette off of the boat and shared a few words with Sakura, who nodded to him and left, leaving him on the island in the meantime.

"Isn't that your ride?" Tenzin asked, staring at the blond man warily as he held Korra in a protective manner. Korra watched him, wondering what he had to say about all of this. He was the _last_ person that she expected to save her… though she had to admit that he was also the first choice if she had to pick anyone to get her out of a rough spot like that. But he was a non-bender… and he most certainly wasn't an Equalist. Was he some kind of military or special operations? A police officer? Wasn't metal bending a prerequisite to joining the police force in Republic City?

Naruto grinned and said, "Honestly, I was hoping that you'd be kind enough to give me a ride on one of your sky bison once I made sure that Korra was alright. I've never ridden one before."

Korra and Tenzin shared a look, then gawked at the blond man for a moment before they started to laugh. Tenzin and Korra stepped away to talk for a bit, leaving Naruto there waiting in silence as he ran the psychotic events that had just occurred.

_Holy shit… did I just kick Amon's ass?_

Naruto gulped. He had a feeling that Amon wasn't going to take this defeat likely… he'd have to have Sakura nearby him again. Who knew she was such a good shot with explosives, fireworks and other projectiles? Damn… that nut shot.

At least they knew Amon was human now; a man at that with a pair of testicles… or maybe only one now that Sakura had gotten through with him.

A few minutes later, Naruto saw the old man walking over to him with a smile on his face. Tenzin's guard was down and he extended his arm to shake Naruto's, saying, "Thank you… she told me what happened. What you did to save her."

"Is she alright?" He asked, a worried tone in his voice as he shook the older man's hand.

Smiling, Tenzin said, "Yes, she's doing OK. A little shook up. She hasn't cried or anything yet, so I think you being there really helped. I have to admit that I am quite impressed with your actions. You aren't a bender, are you?"

Naruto laughed, saying, "I wish! Then I wouldn't have to play so dirty. Did she tell you I shot him in the eye with a needle?"

Eyebrows lifting, Tenzin said, "You injured Amon? That is good news! We can use that injury to our advantage in narrowing down our search for him."

Nodding, Naruto said, "I thought that might be the case too, but he's unlikely to go out in public without his mask on. Plus, they say the reason why he wears it all of the time is because he was disfigured as a young boy. By a firebender apparently. Not sure how true that is. Seems very cliché."

Tenzin nodded with a light smirk at his last comment, "So, she told me your name was Naruto Uzumaki?"

"Yes."

"And what do you do, Mr. Uzumaki?"

Naruto shrugged and said, with a lopsided grin, "I own both the pro bending arena and the pro bending franchise here in Republic City. Not too sure if I own the other leagues in other countries, but I have to look over the contract again to make sure."

Tenzin just stared, before saying, "You… own all of it?"

"Yeah. I am an investor, an artist and a philanthropist. I haven't told Korra everything about me yet, so maybe we can do this tomorrow after she gets some rest so I can inform everyone?"

"A breakfast conversation then. Please spend the night here with us and you can tell us all about yourself and how you and Korra are acquainted."

"I really appreciate that… say, do you think you could let me ride with you on one of those sky bisons tomorrow, maybe?" grinning, Naruto looked up at the sky and said, "I've always wanted to know what it's like to fly!"

Smirking, Tenzin nodded and said, "OK, sounds good… and thank you again, Mr. Uzumaki."

"Please call me Naruto… I do know who you are, by the way, councilman. I would be a fool not to."

"Then you may call me Tenzin, Naruto. I will have one of the acolytes escort you to your room in the men's quarters. Please enjoy your stay here tonight."

Naruto offered an easy grin and said, "Will do!"

oOo

Later that night, Naruto heard shifting outside of his window and he rolled out of bed, carefully sticking his pillows under the sheets to make it look like he was really bundled up. When he saw the silhouette of a woman creeping in through his window, he snuck up behind her as she moved toward the bed and pulled away the covers. Catching her off guard, he wrapped an arm around her waist and covered her mouth with his hand, whispering, "Looks like you really _were_ willing to do anything, even give up your life if it meant confronting that monster."

Korra gasped as she felt his body press into hers. Her first reaction was to elbow him and blast him with a wave of fire, but he caught her elbow and maneuvered her so that she couldn't move. She struggled for a moment, but began to calm down when she felt just how close they were as one of his arms held both of hers behind her back and the other wrapped around her front under one of her breasts and up through the middle so that he could keep his hand over her mouth. He whispered into her ear in a tantalizing manner, "Came to pay me a late night visit, Korra?" He ground his hips into hers and she sucked in a breath through her nose, her body freezing as she felt that he was nude.

"I'm going to take my hand off of your mouth, so you better not scream." Naruto pried his fingers, one by one, once she nodded. He began kissing her neck as he led her forward, bumping her knees against the bed and forcing her to crawl onto it, her knees and hips shaking as she noticed just how compromising their situation was at that moment. If Tenzin knew that she was bent over the bed with her ass in the air while this man was standing around naked in the room, she wasn't certain if he'd kill Naruto first before he got around to her or the other way around. Then she thought about what her dad might do… thank the heavens that they were in Republic City, and not in the Southern Water Tribe.

"Naruto… how did you… why did you come to save me?"

Naruto crawled beside her, turning his body as he rested on the bed. He watched her fall onto her side and their gaze locked for a while before she blushed and started to look down. He reached over for her and took her hand into his, squeezing it tight like he did the night before, stopping her just before she got a chance to see what he had to offer down there. "I couldn't let you leave on your own to face Amon like that. I heard about your statement, Korra… you can't do that sort of thing. You must know that giving him time to respond like that only gives him time to set up a trap for you."

Frowning, Korra pressed her face into the bed as she moaned, embarrassed, "I know… it was so stupid, I didn't even try and think things through… I thought if I beat him on my own then I could stop this anti-bending thing once and for all… instead, all I did was risk losing my bending and put you in harm's way… I didn't know you were going to come after me… Is there… some reason why you felt you had to come after me?"

Naruto looked at her and said, "I thought that was obvious, by now?"

Korra stared at him in silence for a minute, her eyes begging him to say it.

Naruto smiled and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in against his nude form and chuckling lightly when he heard her gasp. "I don't ever want to let you go, Korra. Ever."

She stared at him, tears welling up in her eyes before she threw her arms around him, saying, "I was so terrified! I felt so helpless!" She started gasping for air in between sobs, gripping his body like a lifeline as she cried against his chest.

He held her gently, not sure what to do as she just continued to cry. He thought that making Amon look like a fool might help her ego a bit about being caught, but obviously it had not.

He cupped her cheek and smiled softly, using his thumb to wipe away a tear that was dripping down the side of her face. "I saw you while I was preparing our escape… you were so brave. You didn't show one tear, and I could even see your resolve as his stupid monologue went on and on."

"You saw that?" Korra asked, her eyebrows narrowing together in confusion as she looked up at him.

"Yes… I'm sorry, Korra, but I had to make sure everything was ready before I could step in. I have to rely on deceit and dumb luck to fight tougher opponents like him, though I could never take him head on like you were going to…"

She nodded, fine with that answer. Just the fact that he was there was incredible. "Tenzin was right, I was afraid. I've been scared this whole time. I've never felt like this before and…" She pulled away a bit to look into his eyes. She gasped once more to try and get some oxygen into her lungs from all of the crying and said, throwing herself back into his arms, "… and I don't know what to do!"

Naruto nodded and held her there for a while. She was sincere, and he knew that in order to gain her trust he had to comfort her. They sat up against the corner of the wall where the bed was pressed up against and he brought her in close as he held her in between his legs. She didn't take off their clothes, but they kissed there for what seemed like the longest time, until finally Korra felt like she could go. Naruto smiled at her and watched her leave, telling her he'd see her in the morning.

Korra stood in front of the window as the first signs of the rising sun peeked from behind the horizon. She stared at him for a few more moments before crawling out the window, whispering goodbye, and thank you before leaving.

oOo

**Author: **And that's it for now. I know I said I wouldn't update this, but I had the idea and the need to write it out, so before I knew it, it was done. I hope you enjoyed the lemon in the beginning with Naruto and Sakura.

To be clear, I don't dislike (double negative? Hm…) one pairing or another, but this is a NarutoxKorra centric fic and eventually I will post a lemon with the two of them. The one with Sakura was to help flesh out her character, as well as to give more insight into Naruto's psyche. I think it's safe to say that the little boy that wanted nothing more than to love the girl finally died that day… not because of what he was trying to do, substituting Sakura for Yuu in his head, but due to an accumulation of events, including that one, which finally led to the young boy's 'demise'. After that, drastic change in Naruto can occur.

So, for better or for worse, I won't be posting another lemon with Naruto and Korra on this chapter because I don't want to cheapen it. Naruto's intentions are to make this girl love him, and taking advantage of her while she's in such a highly emotional state is not something that is going to forward his agenda.

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed, and if you have the time please leave me a review or join our group on dA :)

P.S.: if you're wondering why I quoted myself and said sorry Sasuke, it's because Naruto is such a dick that he wouldn't even tell Sasuke that he was dating a hooker… Not sure if dating a hooker ever ends well, but I'm guessing no.


	5. Chapter 5

"_It's strange that words are so inadequate. Yet, like the asthmatic struggling for breath, so the lover must struggle for words." – T.S. Eliot_

_oOo_

(Air Temple Island - Acolyte Dormitories - Naruto's Room)

Naruto sat quietly in his room, unable to sleep as he looked at the small Pai Sho tile of a flower in his hand.

The Order of the White Lotus (OWL). It was the same tile that Jiraiya had given to him after nearly killing him a few years ago, and it was his key to greater connections than he could ever make by only staying in Republic City, which was why and how he had made the deal with the Uchihas in the first place. It was his first use of the tile, and Shisui Uchiha, whom he had met outside of Republic City, was his connection to the Uchiha clan. Itachi and the rest of their clan did not know how Naruto had managed to gain an audience with the current clan head, since only Shisui was a member of the Order, but it didn't matter to the rest of them who they worked with so long as their leader cast his approval.

All they had been told was that a certain man could be used to further their own agenda by helping to eliminate Future Industries, which would deal a major blow to the Equalist movement in Republic City. The movement had the side-effect of deteriorating trade between the United Republic of Nations and the surrounding elemental nations, including the Fire Nation, where the Uchiha hailed from.

Naruto had an idea of what Itachi's motives were for eliminating the Equalists of Republic City. Aside from improving trade relations, since Equalists just being there immediately made merchant ships less likely to deliver to and from the city, Itachi was deep into slave trading and the Equalists were clearly opposed to such, as the slave trade was "characteristically" bender-like. It was benders in the triads whom began to buy and sell people in the underground market, and even now the trade was ongoing. Naruto was adamantly opposed to the buying and selling of humans as property or otherwise, and so some of his first orders addressed it. Actually, his bribes also came with conditions. Sasuke had gone around, giving bribes to second-in-commands and others in order to rally them against Viper and the rest of the leaders. One of the conditions to the bribes was that anyone who joined under 'the leader's' banner would no longer participate in the slave market. Anyone caught would pay with the lives of one of their own family members per slave bought or sold, or if they did not have any family, they would be captured and tortured.

The bender triads did not quite understand their leader's reasoning after they accepted it, but knowing what he was capable of, very few of them decided to continue trading. This did not stop others outside of their triads, but Naruto had a plan to help end that market for good. Or at the very least, bring it to a screeching halt.

Although he opposed the trade, he was not opposed to thievery, murder and other crimes. He had a personal reason to oppose human trafficking, as well as other crimes like kidnapping, and, selfish or not, he was intent on destroying that particular business. It had nothing to do with 'morals'.

Naruto's eyes looked up toward the window and out to the clear night sky above him as he sat in the middle of the room. He realized something as he stared into the cosmos, his eyes glimmering with a light that seemed to come from within.

Everything that he had worked for, strived for, it would all cumulate to a final point, and everything he had done up until this point would have its part to play in the narrative of his ascension into greatness: the complete reconstruction of the triads with him as their sovereign; his high security informant, Saikhan, in the metal-bending police; his involvement in Amon's impairment and the possible effects it would have on the Equalist movement once he used the triads to mobilize against him; his impending stranglehold that crept around the necks of both Tarrlok and the remainder of the council; the so-called 'OWL' membership which could only further his influence on the nation; the seduction of the Avatar…

A keen grin on his face, Naruto hadn't been so enthusiastic in the longest time. He really wouldn't be able to sleep at all, at this rate.

One thing, however, was still impeding him. It was his attachment to Jiraiya. If he wasn't careful, Jiraiya could very well end him. He almost had, nearly a year ago. And that event had led to another issue: his dream of the fox woman.

oOo

(Naruto's training with Jiraiya, nearly a year prior to the triad event)

"_Alright, kid. You know you're going to have to put every ounce of willpower and perception into this or you're just going to get yourself killed."_

_Jiraiya smirked at the young man who stood in the center of eight firebenders. Each of them were bending flames in between their hands and shifting it back and forth around their bodies. There were four wisps of flame barreling about, twisting as they manipulated it and passed them around amongst themselves as they stepped in to circle around the blond while the old toad sat up near a statue of the golden fire spirit inside of the temple. As the fire raged around them in a beautiful spectacle of lights, the lights and shadows that danced on the walls seemed to take the shape of a dragon that swirled about the circle in an apparently distinct pattern._

"_I've been training for this for a long time already, you old pervert. So let's get started."_

_Jiraiya smirked and flicked a ring on his finger against the golden gilded statue behind him to make a steady thummmm sound ring out signaling that it was time to start the boy's test._

_Without any hesitation, the firebenders fired volley after volley, catching the flames that were fired at them as if there was nothing in the center to distract them from their 'game'. Naruto, meanwhile, was forced to twist and turn his body to dodge each oncoming fireball even as the circle of firebenders began to move in a counter-clockwise direction. From overhead, the center would have appeared to be a series of fiery tails that whipped back and forth, spiraling through the air while the lone blond in the middle spun in the opposite direction of the moving line of firebenders._

"_Spiral movements complement each other Naruto. They say that spiral movements are a solitary trait of airbending in their movements and ceremonial katas, but this is far from the full truth. Earthbenders use them to drill holes into the ground and tunnel through mountains or create large caverns underground; waterbenders apply them to their tendrils for deadly speed and accuracy, allowing them to even create shards of ice if they twist the water perfectly through the air, while also using spirals to create whirlpools and torrents strong enough to devour even the strongest of swimmers; firebenders use spiral movements based on the dances of ancient dragons, and firebending becomes easier to control once the spiral movements of the body are mastered."_

_Jiraiya then smirked and said, "But the truth is bending is only a miniscule part of the world's spirit. Non-benders allowed their greed to get in the way of their resonance with the spirit world, and so they shut themselves out, hiding on their little islands, coveting their gold and bread while allowing benders to gain in strength over the millennia. If you are willing to let go of all of your desires, then you can surpass your limitations by reaching into the depths of your chi."_

_Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly. There was no way he was going to let go of his 'desires'. The whole point of this training was to learn how to deal with benders since he could possibly be facing all kinds from within the triads soon._

"_But perhaps we should focus on the here and now, instead on what may come if you are able to get this training down. As a non-bender, to survive a battle with a powerful bender you must understand bending more so than any one bender. You must be able to predict their movements, and act accordingly as if you were, in fact, bending back their element at them. By learning their styles, you learn their weaknesses and their strengths, and you can take these and twist them to your advantage._

"_To understand firebending fully, however, you must be burnt. You must feel the heat of the flame engulf you. However, you must also control when and where you are burnt, or otherwise you will surely die from this test."_

_Naruto spun and then jumped, twisting his body as he continued to turn in mid-air, landing back on one foot only to sweep downwards and duck underneath a blast that grazed the back of his head, singing his hair. However, he kept on moving, not letting up, quickly maneuvering once again as more and more fireballs zipped back and forth between the firebenders. Jiraiya watched his feet carefully to make sure that the boy was following all of the movements that he had spent so much time teaching him. For him to mess up once now would mean he could definitely be seriously injured, if not killed outright._

"_This training, Naruto, was to give you an instinctual understanding of the natural flow of chi. The advantages you gain from this will allow you to survive even in a fight against multiple benders who are out to kill you rather than just bending around you as these firebenders are here. Once you are able to detect the flow of one's chi, you should be able to anticipate the movements of your opponent before they even know they intend to make them. If you're not fast enough -and you're not by the way- then you will not be able to keep up with your perception of their movements and you will die anyways."_

_When all of the firebenders fired the blast into the center at the same time, Naruto dropped down into a split and pressed his fists together, closing his eyes as the fire bloomed above his head and spread all across the ceiling of the firebending temple until they dissipated, leaving the once bright room dimly lit by the burning wicks of candles in various locations around the shrine._

"_Looks like you've lost a little off the top there. Haha!" Jiraiya chuckled mirthfully as he stepped down toward the ring of firebenders which parted at the center._

_Naruto opened his eyes and patted the side of his head curiously with one hand, nodding with a grin on his face as he said, "Yeah, looks like I did." However, when Naruto saw the old man walk through the group and stand in front of him as the circle once again closed, his eyes widened in surprise. _

"_Are you ready?" There was a smile on Jiraiya's face, but the look in his eyes showed that there was no joke to be had in any of his words from here on out; Jiraiya was being all too serious. "I'm going to kill you if what you just did was a fluke."_

_Suddenly the two of them stood in a ring of fire as walls of flame were erected around them to keep them inside of the circle. Naruto's eyes narrowed and he reached for the blade he had hidden inside of his Yukata._

_There was a terrible silence that overcame them, even as the flames raged around them. Naruto gripped his small tanto blade and flipped it so that the handle was pointing out and the back of the blade pressed up against the underside of his forearm. He watched the old toad carefully as he slowly pushed away his own kimono, allowing the top to hang over his obi as he settled into a powerful stance; his legs were squared out and bent slightly at the knees, he held one arm extended out toward the blond while the other sat in a more relaxed position closer to him by his abdomen. Naruto was shocked to see how muscular the old toad was despite his age._

_With a shake of his head and a spinning movement of his arm, the white-haired man bellowed, "Step forth and watch your life flash before your very eyes! For you are standing before the extravagant, gallant Jiraiya! The painter whose strokes are made with the blood of his victims! The killer whose tongue is sharper than any steel blade! Do not pray for forgiveness, do not beg for mercy; as prayers fall uselessly on the ears of a non-existent god, pleas of mercy are entirely hopeless here. Step forth then, ready to die, knowing that life beyond this point is but on the whim of the master, not by his pity but by the mere chance that when he steps upon you he decides only to take an arm rather than your head!"_

_Just… what do you say to that? Naruto didn't know, but when he took his first step, he also didn't know what to do when Jiraiya was suddenly upon him, shattering his guard as if it were never there, and leaving the boy sprawled on his back with the knife settling on the ground beside him._

_The blond scurried to get up to his feet, but Jiraiya's attack relented for a moment as he said, "Grab your blade, boy. And hang on to it, for crying out loud."_

_Naruto's eyes turned to look at his tanto and then back at Jiraiya. The old toad was serious as hell. It was so uncharacteristic of him that the blond couldn't help but stare in disbelief._

_Standing up, Naruto grabbed his blade and prepared himself again… only to be buried into the ground again, his back cracking and his head knocking roughly against the pavement. He held onto his blade this time though._

"_Get up." Jiraiya beckoned, his eyes full of fire as he stomped his foot back into the ground, settling back into his stance. Naruto stood up slowly, wincing in pain and standing half of the way before dropping back down to one knee. He glared at his legs and slapped his arms onto his knees as he forced himself back up onto his feet. When he looked up to see Jiraiya again, he saw the man standing there and decided to rush in, head first with his blade at the ready._

_Jiraiya did not duck a swipe of Naruto's blade. Instead, he stepped into the attack, allowing Naruto to draw blood on his hand which gripped both part of the blade and Naruto's hand, shocking his attacker, and thrust a hand into his neck, damaging his throat and forcing the young man to hop backwards, close to the fire, as he tried to regain his bearings. Naruto rubbed tears that broke out from the corners of his eyes due to the pain, then he rushed the old man and swiped several times with his dagger, each attack one of careful timing and precision, aiming at only the most dangerous zones, going for the biggest payloads; in other words, Naruto's attacks were all aimed to kill in the swiftest way possible, and yet Jiraiya seemed to be able to counter every strike, even when they were incredibly well-timed._

_Jiraiya used strange attacks that only seemed to be aimed at "safe spots", yet each of his strikes easily parried all of the deadliest attacks, making Naruto's fighting style useless, as Jiraiya knew every spot Naruto would go for and had a way to counter him if he tried to attack any of those. It was almost like a practiced dance. The speed of his hands was something that Naruto simply couldn't react to. Instead, he had to hope that if he just kept attacking relentlessly that eventually he would get through._

_When Naruto slashed at Jiraiya's throat, Jiraiya twisted his body and used his left elbow to stop the boy's swinging arm, nearly shattering his ulna with the vicious strike._

_When Naruto stepped in to try and get into Jiraiya's guard, Jiraiya went for the head-butt before reaching out, grabbing the blond by the back of his head and kneeing him in the face._

_Within a few minutes, Naruto was on his last legs, stumbling toward the edge of the flames yet again as Jiraiya stalked over to him. Desperately, Naruto stabbed with his blade, but Jiraiya grabbed his wrist and twisted it, pushing on Naruto's shoulder and lifting up on his arm until he had him in a grip. He struggled, until Jiraiya gripped the blond's frizzed blond hair and kicked him in the side of the knee, dropping him down to the ground as the old toad pushed his face up against the wall of fire._

"_What does death look like?" Jiraiya asked, curiously, his grip tightening on his hair as he forced the blond to look up at the fire in front of him. He could already feel the heat and just the proximity was starting to get unbearable. "Well?" Jiraiya asked, growing impatient as he gripped harder on his arm, pulling it up to cause the blond more pain, though he did note that Naruto had yet to let go of the knife._

"_It looks like old age. You're going to die alone and worthless, with your title meaningless. Give it a rest already, you obviously kicked my ass." Even with his strong front, Naruto could taste the blood that had shot up from the earlier attack to his throat, not to mention his sharp fall to the ground where he nearly cracked his head open._

_Jiraiya smirked. "Whether I could kick your ass or not was never the question. The question was, could you survive an ass-kicking by the legendary Jiraiya…"_

"_I did. And I can do it again if you want to try me. Any time."_

_Laughing, Jiraiya said, "No, we're not finished here yet, kid. Not by a long-shot." Jiraiya then dragged the blond through the flames as he stepped through the fiery wall, as if it weren't even there. The benders around him looked in surprise and they stopped maintaining the circular wall since the two of them were now outside, their clothes and hair singed and some parts of their skin burnt. Naruto's eyes were widened as he looked out from behind his arms which he had used to shield him from the flames. He gasped for air, his body reacting naturally due to the prolonged exposure of the thinning air in the center of the circle._

_How did we survive walking through the flame like that? _Naruto couldn't quite comprehend how they had made it through, since the wall of fire was a sustained wall created by benders. It was as if Jiraiya somehow negated the flame as they walked through, resulting in only minor burns that were no worse than mild sunburns that would certainly heal.

_A moment later, mid-thought, Naruto was grabbed by the hem of his pants and his hair, and then thrown up to the gilded statue, slamming face-first into it before falling back down to the floor with a thud. He rolled down the first few steps before being caught by Jiraiya's foot which kicked him back up against the statue._

"_And guess what? I have a few waterbenders with healing abilities nearby."_

_Naruto slowly pushed himself up onto his knees, his head still ringing from crashing into the statue. His eyes settled on Jiraiya as the man walked up to him, cracking his knuckles as if he were getting ready to do something grueling._

"_We're going to be here for a long… long time."_

_oOo_

_Several minutes later, Jiraiya sighed and kicked Naruto in the face one more time, drawing more blood from his mouth. "You're giving up already? Jeez kid. You're such a pansy."_

_Shaking his head, he knelt down beside him briefly and whispered, "I told you, you were going to have to get burned. Just didn't specify if it was going to be by fire or by me." A bright grin appeared on his face as he looked at the dim eyes that couldn't seem to focus on his master's face._

_Actually, at this point, Naruto couldn't really move at all. He just stared at Jiraiya as the old man grabbed him by what was left of his singed hair and shook his head around a bit to try and get the loopy look out of his eyes._

"_Fuck, well I lied about those waterbenders, so you're going to have to try and get to a hospital somehow… anyways, see you if I see you!" Jiraiya grinned and walked away, leaving Naruto a bloody mess with his head resting back against the gilded statue._

_The firebenders were rushed out of the temple and told to leave him be, so none of them came to his aid after the fight. Instead, Naruto just sat there, sure that he would die, sitting on the top step right under the statue of the phoenix, its wings spread out behind him as if it were about to pluck him from the ground and take him away._

_His eyes looked up and he saw the shadow of the phoenix flapping its wings on the ceiling._

_~ Do you believe in rebirth, Naruto?_

_oOo_

_(Unknown location, immediately after Jiraiya's training)_

_Do I… believe in rebirth?_

_Naruto's eyes opened and he looked up to see that he was in a pine forest. He looked around to try and figure out how he got out there, when he noticed that he was in someone's camp. They sat him nearby against a tree while they worked on setting up their tent and began kindling._

_The young man tried to move, but found that his body was unresponsive. The only thing he was allowed to do, while sitting there was scrape at the ground with his fingertips and grit his teeth. His breathing was labored, his eyes were so beat up that it was a miracle that he was able to open them at all._

"_You shouldn't move," said a muffled voice. Naruto's eyes looked up to see that it was a lithe-framed individual who had wrapped his head up in multiple scarfs in order to conceal his identity, a medium-sized cloak draped over his shoulders to ward away the brisk air. He noticed several strange charms on his slender hand, and long, sharp nails that were shaved to a point._

_Naruto's keen eyes noticed the way this person carried themself, and so he wondered if this 'he' was not actually a she._

_His eyes followed down toward the hips and past that to the thighs and ankles, and he noticed something odd protruding out of the back from underneath her cloak._

_Is that… a tail?_

_Naruto blinked at the fox tail that was hanging dully behind her, every once in a while swinging from one side to another._

_It's definitely real, he thought._

_He tried to speak, but found that his jaw was probably fractured. It was painful to move, and it also felt like a tooth was loose, or like it didn't quite sit right in his mouth. He poked at it with his tongue and realized it was probably his jaw that was shifting around. He seethed as he felt a jolt of pain from adjusting his jaw the wrong way, but he quickly calmed down enough to focus his eyes back on this strange fox-tailed woman._

"_You have pretty eyes. Angry eyes, but anger and hatred can be a beautiful thing." She turned to grab something, and when she came back to kneel beside him, he watched her warily as she began to dab his forehead with a warm, moist rag. She carefully attended to him, cleaning him once again as she had while he was lying unconscious._

"_It looks like you tried to fight someone far beyond your reach. Perhaps you should reconsider taking on opponents who have more ability and experience than you."_

_Naruto glared, angered by her blunt observation. What the hell did she know, anyways?_

"_My foolish little blue-eyed boy. You would have died if it weren't for me, you know that right?"_

_Growling through the pain, Naruto's fingernails dragged dirt into his palm as he squeezed his fist tightly._

"_Without me, your little light would have gone out, like the flame on a candle. You owe me, child. You said it yourself that you would give your soul to me if I saved you."_

_His eyes widened and he slowly turned his head trying to shake it in the negative. Had he really said that? He couldn't quite be sure…_

"_Oh, but you did! I remember it quite clearly. You promised your soul for your life. I thought it was strange for a young boy to give his blood to my temple only to beg for his life there underneath the celebratory shrine inside. You were quite desperate."_

_Naruto grunted as spittle built up and bubbled past his lips. He was trying to talk through the pain, but he quickly realized that his throat was still severely damaged from the fight. Together with the pain from the jaw, and a splitting headache, it was nearly unbearable._

_Either way, she didn't look anything like the bird statue in the shrine. This was probably some weird lady just dicking around with him._

"_Just relax. I won't extract payment right away… For now, just think of me as a kind stranger." He could see one eye through all of the scarfs that were wrapped around her head, and he swore he saw a look of playfulness._

"_Now, stay there, my cute little fool. I shall return with food for you and for me."_

_Having no other choice, Naruto waited there for a while until she returned with a rabbit and several berries, some small plants and twigs. He watched her curiously as she skinned the rabbit with ease, using her nails to cut him open and pull out his entrails to dump into a small container by her side. She then used a pot filled with water to rinse her hands as she finished preparing the meat on a small pan that she set on some of the heated stones that were sitting near the flame. To Naruto's surprise, she reached in and touched each of the stones with her index finger, causing the color of the stones to turn black where she touched, then she poured some oil that she kept in a small flask onto the pan. Within only a few seconds, while she snapped the small twigs in her hands and placed them in the oil along with the leaves of the plants that she obtained, he noticed that the oil was already hot, as the water dripping from her hands landed in the pan and began to sizzle and evaporate immediately. Naruto watched as she took out a small container and she seemed to be watching him as well with her eyelid narrowed as if she were grinning and it had reached her eye. "I come prepared, don't I? I am a wanderer, after all, and it would not do to merely eat flesh raw and without salt or spices when one could easily bring along the tools and items necessary to produce a satisfactory meal. Cooking is certainly one human creation which I do quite enjoy, though this is possibly the first time I have ever cooked for anyone else! Perhaps some celebration is in order? I have some rice wine somewhere in this pack of mine."_

_Naruto blinked to try and clear some dust from his eye while she reached into a leather pack which was sitting closer to the tent._

"_Ah! Here you go. Some rice wine that someone left at my shrine. Ha ha, I know that look in your eye, you want to ask why I don't look like a bird, don't you - why I have a tail?" She grinned, pulling the veil aside briefly to show her face, only to reveal that she was wearing a white fox-mask with three red hash marks on either cheek and a matching triangle on the forehead, pointing downwards. He was surprised by the mask because he had been able to see her entire eye, and hadn't expected her to be wearing such a thing under all of those rags._

_The eyes were slanted and painted red, with a small half-circle opening for her actual eye to peer out from. The mouth of the mask was wide and showed a playful grin, but there was also a small opening in the center and Naruto could see her lips clearly._

_Lifting his arm up, he reached toward her, and she stopped to watch him as he just sat there, his arm shaking as he extended it outwards._

"_You are quite persistent." Smiling, she crawled over to him and handed the bottle over to him. He tried to grasp onto it, but his hand failed him, and she giggled as it landed in his lap and began to spill. Reaching down, she took the bottle and moved in closer, straddling him with her knees on other side of his legs as she bent over and tipped the bottle up against his lips. His eyes fluttered closed and he accepted the wonderful drink, his hand falling uselessly to his side._

_She stared at him curiously as she watched him try and drink, his throat causing complications. "Perhaps you would prefer some breast milk, my silly little cub?" When she saw the glare that appeared in his eyes suddenly, she snickered and reached out to cup his face, pulling the bottle away from him._

"_For your soul, I could give you more than just a drink. You would die here in bliss, drowning in ecstasy. Is that what you desire, my foolish little blue-eyed boy? Then your soul would be mine and our deal done."_

_He didn't understand why she kept calling him a foolish boy or a silly cub, but the way she said it was very motherly. He didn't quite understand it, but it sort of felt like he was being teased by Yuu again. Unable to swallow properly, the sake began to seep out from the edges of his mouth as tears welled up in his eyes from the pain in his throat. He shuddered, however, when she lifted her mask just enough to press her lips against his. Opening or not, a kiss wouldn't have been comfortable with the mask on, he observed._

_In the back of his mind, he thought about how soft her tail was, as it brushed against the knuckles of his hand on the floor as it swung back and forth._

_When she pulled away, he groaned from phantom pain that seemed to ebb away slowly but surely. His jaw, eventually, became numb and a throbbing headache from all of the pain simply vanished, leaving him in a euphoric state._

"_Mm…" she mused, touching her soft, pouting lips with a slender digit after licking her lips in an exaggerated manner. "That tasted like… ambition. I wonder what the rest of your body tastes like?"_

_Naruto watched the strange fox woman as she leaned in and kissed at his jaw, before working her way up to his earlobe. "Strength… and attentiveness." She moaned against the back of his ear, pressing her lip against his neck as she started kissing down, her tongue flicking out from time to time to 'taste' him. He looked at her, still perturbed slightly by the fox mask that she was wearing. "Wariness and caution… and a lot of pride." _

_When she reached his collarbone, she hissed and squirmed, shaking as her arms reached up so she could wrap her arms around his torso as she began sliding downward, her lips brushing against the taut skin of his chiseled abdomen. "Burden… so much burden."_

_Her face was now pressed against his abdomen, with nothing in the way to stop her since he had been nude from the waist up since his training with Jiraiya. He felt her tongue tickle his abdomen, and he shuddered when she pushed her tongue up against his belly button, her mask being pushed up past her nose as she laid sprawled out over his lap. "A belly full of fire. Hate. Anger. Resentment. A desire for revenge. Mm. A lot of different feelings here." She licked just beneath his belly button again and sighed in content._

_Smirking as her head rested in his lap, she looked up at him by turning her head slightly to the side, her mask coming loose and falling to the ground beside him. "Hm… I believe I've tasted enough. I can always save this for later… though if I had to guess, I would say that you might taste like self-righteousness and fear here. A man's feelings of inadequacy always manifest from his fear that his penis isn't large enough. Or, worse, that another man out there has a larger penis than him. This self-demoralizing thought has started wars before." She smiled provocatively as she turned her head side to side so that she nuzzled her face into his lap. The twitch of the eyebrow on Naruto's face made her laugh. After a few moments of further teasing him by kissing his inner thigh over his pants, she sighed and rolled onto her back, resting her head back against his lap as she stared up at him._

"_You don't remember our conversation earlier, do you?"_

_He frowned and opened his mouth to speak, forgetting about the pain, and surprised when there was none. Shifting his jaw, Naruto smacked his lips quietly to test it before looking down at the fox woman and saying, "My jaw is healed."_

_She let out a hushed giggle and said, "My, my. Quite the brain on this one. So is that wound above your belly button where it seemed someone stabbed you. It was a very dangerous wound."_

_Naruto glowered down at her because of her initial comment, his arms lifting up from his sides to reach down to the girl in his lap. She eyed him curiously as his palms scooped her face into them, and blushed prettily with a smile on her face as she said, "There he is. That's the heart-throb that was cooing in my ear near the statue. I was content just watching you die, but then you went and whispered those sweet nothings in my ear and I just had to listen."_

"_Huh, I thought you said I begged?"_

"_Begged, seduced, what's the difference?"_

_He smirked and said, "It must be reflex. I don't think I was even awake then, because I can't remember any of it."_

"_Oh, so you sweet-talk both men and women?" She arched a brow and offered a playfully sinister grin._

"_What?"_

"_You said it was by reflex, and you didn't specify if it was in regards to women or men, so I assumed both."_

"_Well, when necessary." Naruto said, frowning at the implications in her tone. Though he wanted to tell her otherwise just out of principle, he didn't need to make any excuses for himself to a woman whose name he didn't even know._

"_Hee hee! I see, I see."_

"_What about the rabbit?"_

"_How amusing that you wish to change the subject. I'm sure the rabbit's already done. If you are hungry, then by all means. This whole deal: the food, the healing, the… __**attention**__… it's all included in our agreement."_

"_We have no agreement. Do you have a contract?"_

_The woman smirked and crawled up onto his lap, saying, "Why, yes, I do. Would you like to see it?"_

_He didn't quite like the look on her face when she asked him if he wanted to look over the contract, but knowing that a contract was important for this sort of deal, whether she be a spirit or a demon or just some psycho who happened to have some healing powers he didn't know about, he had no choice but to say yes. Nodding his consent, Naruto watched as the fox woman began to disrobe. At first, he focused on her honey-drop eyes, but once she was completely nude in front of him he started a more thorough visual inspection of her body._

"_You signed it… here, here and here." She pointed at various spots along her breasts, her abdomen and on her hip._

_Naruto's mouth was left wide-opened once he saw what was written on the naked woman. The nudity didn't bother him, he was used to that, but the intricate tattoos on her body with business-like clauses and a list of terms and conditions left him completely speechless. Also, he saw his name written there, Naruto Uzumaki, in his handwriting, as well as the day's date._

"_See? You are far more agreeable in your dreams. It was easy to reach out to you after you passed out and, since you were free of the limitations of your body, I have to say that it was quite a… pleasurable and enlightening endeavor. Though it pales in comparison to the sensations available in the outside world. I can't actually **taste** you in your dreams."_

_She noticed he wasn't listening to her. Instead, he was reading every word on the contract carefully, his eyes zipping back and forth quickly as he tried to memorize the entirety of it. To read a certain part, he had to lift up her breasts, and so he eased her onto her back and used his hands to move them out of the way so that he could keep reading. "Oh my!" she gushed, her legs squirming underneath him as he straddled her waist and muttered out loud to himself while he read from the text tattooed on her supple flesh._

_Within a few minutes, he read everything that there was to read. The text was laid out from just underneath her collarbone and basically became a tattoo that covered her entire torso. The text was small, and Naruto was having trouble believing that he wasn't just high as fuck due to all of the chemicals his body must have been pumping through him as he sat there, dying after Jiraiya's smack-down. He even turned her over to make sure there was no writing on the back and she moaned appreciatively, asking him if he was going to take advantage of the privileges over her body bestowed upon him by their contract._

_He ignored the wanton look in her eyes and just let go, turning to the food that was cooking on the pan. Had anyone even turned the meat over? How was it cooked on both sides? He struggled with it for a bit, but eventually he gave up trying to understand what was going on in his surroundings after a few minutes and just decided to sit there with her to eat._

_The longer he sat there with her, though, eating the rabbit and actually enjoying it quite a bit, Naruto began to think that maybe this was part of the test? Surely Jiraiya hadn't left him out there to die. He probably just waited for him to pass out and then he sent this weird fox-tailed girl to… shit, that doesn't make any damn sense at all, does it?_

_Groaning, Naruto was still inclined to believe that crock of an idea because of the fact that this was a woman and she was so willing to get naked in front of him. That alone made him want to yell at her and tell her to get Jiraiya out here so he could kick his ass._

_Then he remembered the ass-beating he took._

_Yeah, kicking Jiraiya's ass anytime soon was not in the foreseeable future. That man was more dangerous than anyone he had ever met up until this point. Not even a blood bender could scare him as much as Jiraiya did._

_Naruto was lost in thought, wondering how he was going to train enough to defeat the old man when suddenly the girl said, "Well, my foolish little boy. Aren't you going to ask me about the contract?"_

_Shaking his head, Naruto said, "I don't think I need to ask any questions…" His eyes widened a bit when he realized something that was unanswered and so he asked, "Well, maybe one: is there anything hidden in the contract that isn't specifically stated there? Am I going to have to worry about surprise clauses or anything?"_

_She chuckled mirthfully and said, "Hm. I dunno, maybe? And that's two questions."_

_Naruto glared at her in annoyance. "What are you hiding?"_

"_Oh nothing."_

"_I don't like that tone of voice. Tell me what it is or I'll break the contract."_

_Laughing, she said, "You're going to break me? I don't think that's going to happen, my silly little cub."_

"_My name is Naruto, call me Naruto."_

"_Why would I do that? Are you my equal?" She let out a raucous laugh that caused him to cringe from the sound. No, you're much like the ant to my boot. The zebra-antelope to my hippo-lion. Hardly more than entertainment or food."_

_Naruto stared at her for a minute before he said, "What are you, anyways?"_

"_Don't you mean who? You know, you've never asked me my name. That's very rude."_

"_What's your name?"_

"_Humph! How absurd. How dare one such as yourself ask for __**my**__ name. __**My**__ name is beyond your comprehension, mortal. If I were to speak it, you would surely wither and die."_

_Rolling his eyes, Naruto said, "Whatever, Foxy."_

_Glaring up at him from the floor as he stood up onto his feet, she said, "My name is NOT Foxy!"_

"_Heh heh. It is now, biatche." Throwing his arms up above his head, Naruto looked around as he stretched back and forth, twisting his body to try to wake up a bit. "So how do I get out of here, anyways?"_

_Foxy frowned and said, "Out of here? You never were here to begin with."_

_oOo_

_Sitting in front of the phoenix statue, Naruto roused as pain came flooding back into his senses. He winced and writhed, confused as to why he was sitting there, still bloody after everything that had happened. Then he noticed that several of his wounds were gone, though the scars remained._

_Shaking his head, Naruto stood up and dragged himself out of the shrine, trying to ignore the pain that he still felt from the beating he took. He turned back to look at the statue briefly before walking over to a bench outside where he left his pack and his Yukata. _

"_Was that all a dream?" he asked himself as he reached down to grab his Yukata which was folded nicely next to his pack of supplies for the journey from Republic City to the Fire Nation. When he held the robe up in his hand, he frowned when he noticed there was something hidden inside of his beloved Yukata._

_In his hand, Naruto held the fox mask with the three hash marks on both cheeks and the triangle pointing downwards on the forehead. The same mask that the fox woman wore in his 'dream'. Clicking his tongue in disbelief, Naruto pulled on his Yukata and left the mask on the ground outside of the fire temple._

_oOo_

(In the acolyte dormitories - Men's side - Naruto's room)

Later on that morning, Naruto thanked Konohamaru when the teenage boy handed him a coded scroll that was only as big as one of his fingers, allowing Naruto to read what was hidden there regarding the dirt that the brat had dug up on the councilman.

He had snuck onto the island by swimming most of the way from a boat that he had anchored on a smaller island nearby. The only thing he was worried about was getting the scroll wet, but for that he kept it in a small metal tin that was sealed with leather. Before sneaking over to his boss's room, where he saw one of the blonde's geta sitting on the windowsill, Konohamaru made sure to wring out all of his clothes and shake off any excess water so that he wouldn't get water everywhere and possibly blow his cover.

"I'm sorry, boss. I only managed to get a few things on Tarrlok. He's either very careful about what he's doing or he's clean, but I doubt that."

Naruto frowned and nodded slowly, handing him back the tin as he said, "Keep an eye on him. I want you to have his schedule memorized by next week. Also, get someone you trust who can keep an eye on the movements of his task force. You can contact Sakura at the tea shop if you need money." Naruto then asked, a curious tone in his voice, "Has Sasuke tried to contact me yet?"

Konohamaru shook his head, "No, but I'll contact his lawyer if you want me to."

"Yes, go ahead and do that. Sakura will be coming back later on today to bring me some paperwork to fill out for the pro bending stadium. I will tell her that you will contact her if Sasuke needs money to post bail or something. Do not come to me. He should be fine, but just in case."

Konohamaru nodded and said, "I also heard that an Equalist rally got cancelled today."

"Really? Hah. That was fast." Naruto smirked and rested his chin on his palm as the two of them sat in the middle of the room. Konohamaru had snuck into the compound, easily dodging the sentries posted out there in shifts. It wasn't very surprising; Konohamaru was sneakier than Naruto was at his age, so the blond was confident in the young man's ability to be as discreet as possible while working for him, just in case their association would cause Naruto any trouble in the future.

"It was supposed to start three hours from now, so it was kind of an early rally. Did you give that masked bastard an ass-beating?" he asked, a knowing look on his face when he saw the smug smirk on his boss.

"Took an eye. Needle right in that sucker. Plus, Sakura nailed him in the balls with a grenade launcher."

Wincing, Konohamaru shook his head and said, "She's a lunatic… you know she's bipolar, right? And, I don't mean to disrespect you, boss, but you are crazier for keeping her around."

Naruto nodded, but before he could say anything more, he made a signal with his hand toward the window and Konohamaru made himself scarce, leaving right before Tenzin knocked on the door. "Good morning! Are you awake?" he heard from behind the traditional, sliding door.

"Yes, come in. Just doing my morning stretches." Naruto was limber as hell, but he just did them to calmly show why he was sitting in the middle of the floor.

When Tenzin walked in, he saw Naruto stretching out his back like a cat, extending his arms out and curving his torso down toward the ground as his head and thighs lifted upwards.

"Ah! That is a great habit for a man of any age! I do a lot of stretches myself. Helps me stay spry even as an old man." Tenzin chuckled heartily while Naruto just snorted.

"You can't fool me. I bet you're like a ballerina and a gymnast in one. I heard airbenders and even the acolytes here on this island are all very agile and capable of using almost all of the relevant muscles in their body to the best of their abilities."

Tenzin arched a brow, but smirked and said, "Who told you that one? I'm just a brittle old man, honest."

Naruto nodded, "Uh huh. Well, sir. Are we ready for breakfast? I thought it was a little early?"

"Ah, yes. Well, I'd like to show you the bison so you can get familiar with them before we take them out for a ride later on today. Korra needs some more rest, I think, so Pema and I decided to just wait and have a late breakfast, early lunch."

Naruto stood up from the ground and nodded, "Alright, give me a second then." He walked over to the bed and put on his clothes while Tenzin stepped out of the room to give the young man some privacy as he changed.

When Naruto stepped out, fully dressed in his orange Yukata and slightly darker pants, taped at the shins, they both walked out of the men's dormitories and headed toward the bison ranch with Naruto carrying his geta sandals by the hand.

When they neared the grass field where the air bison grazed and frolicked, Naruto smiled and said, "I really wish I had some paint and a canvas right now. This is just too nice."

Tenzin nodded and stroked his beard, "That's right. I remember you said you were an artist. A painter then?"

Naruto grinned, "I'm surprised you've never seen my paintings; they're posted up all over the council walls. I'm also a professional calligrapher, an amateur sculptor and a published writer."

Arching a brow, Tenzin said, "You're just a regular lady killer, aren't you?"

Naruto's eyes settled on Tenzin's as he looked for any kind of underlying ulterior meaning in the man's eyes after hearing the odd tone of voice coming from the older man. Then, he just shrugged and said, "I'm a full-blooded man with interests and motivations. I can't help it if I break a few hearts here and there, but I don't see what that has to do with my artwork."

"Not just your artwork, you seem to be financially stable, you're good-looking and you also have great taste in style, might I add,"

"Thank you," Naruto countered with a genuine smile, knowing full-well that he was talking about the orange color of his clothing as well as its style.

"And you dealt with someone like Amon using fireworks and… I can't quite believe this… _needles_ that you shot out of your mouth_?_"

Naruto started to laugh and shook his head, "Yeah. I got pretty good at spitting them out as a parlor trick when I was a kid. Won me a lot of bets, plus people lined up just to see me hit a bull's eye on a dart board from fifteen feet away."

Tenzin's eyebrows raised slightly and he said, "That's very interesting. Could you give me a demonstration?"

Naruto frowned and said, "I don't have any more needles, I used the last one on Amon's eye, but if you have a toothpick then I can use that too."

Cringing at the thought of having an iron needle shot into his eye, Tenzin frowned and said, "Maybe next time then. Now, I want you to walk around the field in a very slow, indirect manner. If you walk straight up to any of these bison and they don't recognize you, they'll just fly away. Also, if one of the big ones see you get too close to their children, they might grab you with their teeth and fly you away to drop you off somewhere… it's usually about fifty miles outside of the city, so try not to mess with the younger ones at first."

Naruto blanched when Tenzin told him this. He wanted to fly, not dangle from a bison's mouth up in the middle of the air. He nodded and started to walk around sideways, making sure to keep an eye on all of the adults and the younger bison as he walked to make sure none of them snuck up on him somehow.

Meanwhile, Tenzin couldn't help but chuckle.

_Ah, how nice. They always fall for that last one. He'll be busy for a while._

oOo

When they finally made it over to the dining room for a fairly late breakfast, Tenzin stepped in first to see both of his girls and his young son already in the room; Ikki and Jinora were giggling about something that they were talking about while Meelo was busy trying to balance a chopstick on his nose. Naruto walked in behind their father and looked over the side of his shoulder at Tenzin's children.

"Meelo, put down the chopstick. Ikki, Jinora, Meelo, please say hello to Korra's friend, and our guest here today, Naruto Uzumaki." He then stepped to the side and nodded at Naruto who smirked and waved happily at the three kids.

"Yo!" he offered, his eyes squinting closed as he showed them a large grin.

Jinora was the first to mutter, "Korra's _friend_ spent the night?"

"Oh my gosh, he's cute!" said Ikki.

Meelo, however, jumped up onto the table and then flew head on at Naruto by letting out an airbending fart. The blond leveled his eyes upon the young airbender as he floated in front of him for a little bit before landing back on the ground with a spin. Naruto arched a brow when the young child with the slightly misshapen head pointed up at him and said,

"Wow! You have really scary eyes!"

"Meelo!"

Tenzin sucked air in through his teeth, embarrassed that his little brat would point out something like that.

"Huh, I wasn't aware of that," Naruto said, grinning. "You know, they say that children are better judges of character than adults."

Tenzin scoffed.

"Who said that? Meelo, though a spirited child, would hardly be able to tell someone's character just from a glance."

Naruto simply shrugged in response as he patted the top of Meelo's head, who immediately latched on and held tightly even as Naruto lifted his arm up. The blond chuckled and lifted Meelo up and then brought him back down towards the ground over and over, eliciting excited laughter from the young child as they played together. "It's nice to meet you, Meelo. You've got quite a grip there."

Meelo squealed and grinned wide, showing all of his teeth, "You too, mister! Aaah-aaah-aaah! Weeee!"

When Meelo finally let go, Naruto bowed to the young girls at the other side of the table and smiled, saying, "It is nice to meet you as well. The eldest is Jinora, correct? So you must be Ikki."

"Whoa! How'd you know?"

"Well, other than your father pointing you out, you're both famous. After all, along with your brother, you are the current last generation of airbenders and your father _is_ the representative for airbenders in the council."

Suddenly, Ikki walked around the table and stood in front of him, eyeing him carefully as she turned her head. When he offered her an easy smile, she turned to Meelo and said, "You're crazy! He has pretty eyes! They're not scary at all."

"Scary eyes! Scary eyes!"

"Meelo!"

"Scary-scary scary-scary!"

Excited now by all of the attention, Meelo began chanting as he ran around the room, much to Tenzin's frustration. Of course, by this point, the old airbender was already too used to this behavior to try and correct it anymore. Not to mention he wasn't the one to really reprimand his children in the first place. That was better left in Pema's capable hands.

Naruto grinned and said, "Thank you, Ikki. I like your hair. What are those hair thingies called?"

"Oh these? They're just wraps for my pig-slug-tail buns!"

Naruto blinked and cupped his chin with his index finger, thinking with his eyes squinted. _Pig… slug? _Yeah, he's never seen that animal before. But it wasn't a big surprise, he's only been to the Fire Nation and he's lived in Republic City for most of his life. Still… pig-slug?

Suddenly, Ikki's eyes brightened up and she walked around him, looking at him curiously from head to toe until she finally stopped in front of him again and started speaking almost too quickly for anyone to keep up.

"You don't look like you're from Republic City. Why are your clothes so fancy? Why are you wearing such bright colors? What kind of clothes are they? Can I braid your hair? Would you call that a 'faux-eagle-hawk'? Why are you wearing heels? I've never seen heels like that before. Don't only girls wear heels? Did you know you were named after a fishcake in noodle soup?"

Naruto grinned and said, almost all in one breath, "I wear my clothes for comfort _and _style. I love the color orange. This is called a Yukata. Maybe, but it has to look good. I don't know what I'd call it, but it was a freak accident that turned into a fun hairstyle, so I went with it. I'm not wearing heels. They're called geta, I'll have to get you and your siblings a pair sometime. They're ceremonious wear from the Fire Nation that I've gotten used to although I'm sure there are some boys out there who like to wear heels. Yes, I did know."

"I'm so sorry about this, Mr. Uzumaki." Tenzin said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it, Tenzin. And please, call me Naruto. Uzumaki is an adopted surname anyways. I don't really know what my real name is, but the name Naruto has been with me ever since I was a kid."

A voice came from behind Naruto and Ikki as they faced her father who was standing at the other side of the table.

"I didn't know that."

Everyone turned to look at the doorway and there stood Korra, eyeing him with an indiscernible look in her eyes. She watched as Naruto's eyes widened slightly, pointed away from her at the moment, until he turned and he saw her. A happy grin adorned his face as he turned to face her completely, his eyes forming small slits as he gave her one of those strange close-eyed smiles that he was fond of doing.

Korra, meanwhile had woken up nearly forgetting all about him spending the night, so seeing him standing there looking like he was in an upbeat mood and as if he hadn't lost any sleep holding her in his arms all early morning until the sun rose made her a little bit sour; she never seemed to be that spry and quick to move in the morning, but she chalked it up to just not being an early bird.

Seeing him also drew other emotions, however, due to the dreams that she had during her early morning snooze. She had dreamt about their little late-night rendezvous and what it might have led to had she not broken down in his arms.

"_Take off your clothes, Korra. I want to see you. All of you."_

It was something out of a smutty romance novel, but that didn't make it any less sexy. He had uttered that line to her over and over in her dreams, and she could still feel and taste his tongue, much like the first time they kissed under the moonlight at the ball.

Her first dream was nice and innocent, with her reminiscing about being held in his arms the whole night until just before the sun began to peek over the horizon, but as her dreams repeated and the early morning progressed they became worse and worse, or better and better, depending on how she looked at it.

"Good morning, Korra." Naruto began with a greeting, his eyes opening just enough so that he could scrutinize the beautiful watertribe girl in front of him. He could tell through the conflicted look in her eyes that she wanted to both run out of the room and hide, and stand right in his face and glare him down like if they were facing off in the bending arena. He found it endearing that she couldn't quite tangle with her infatuation of him.

"Good morning, Naruto Uzumaki." Korra offered coldly, choosing to distance herself from the blond in order to gain some control over her emotions, but Naruto wasn't having any of it.

When she began to walk over to her seat, Naruto walked around the table to sit directly beside her on one of the cushions with Jinora and Ikki taking a seat on his other side at the table. Korra watched him warily as he took his seat where Meelo usually sat. Turning to look for the young boy, Korra smiled and grabbed him. She then scooted over and picked him up to sit him down in between her and Naruto.

"Hey mister! Are you Korra's new boyfriend?"

Ikki gasped and Jinora looked up from a book that she was reading. Naruto looked into Korra's eyes with a light smirk on his face when he saw that her little ploy to play the cold shoulder was backfiring.

"What?!" Korra yelped, looking at the small brat and pinching him on the cheek roughly, "Hey! Don't go misinterpreting things! Naruto here just saved me. He and I are just friends, good friends, but not boyfriend and girlfriend. And what do you know about that sort of thing anyways, Meelo?"

"Well~um! We~ell! Ikki said that your boyfriend was a firebender that makes you crazy - whatever that means- and Jinora told me that, no, your boyfriend already had a girlfriend, but this guy doesn't look like a firebender to me!"

Tenzin smacked himself on the face and just peeked out from in between his fingers, wondering, '_When on earth did Meelo start getting into gossip?'_ Instead of listening to more of it, he stood up and walked out of the dining room to see if Pema needed any help with breakfast.

And _no_, he wasn't going to go get her _just _because he couldn't handle the kids around a guest.

Naruto smirked and patted Meelo on top of the head, interjecting before Korra could come up with anything to say to that, "Korra's just shy about her feelings. She's my girlfriend, she just doesn't know it yet, kid." With a grin, he turned to look at the dark-skinned girl and noticed a flame in her eyes. He just continued to stare into her deep blue eyes until she finally narrowed her brows and looked away, blushing red with embarrassment.

"Oh, didn't anyone tell you that you were Naruto's girlfriend, Korra?"

_That does it! _Korra growled and was about to slam her fists on the table when she saw Naruto move his hand toward her.

Before Korra could outright dismiss everything that Naruto had just said to set the record straight for Meelo and everyone else in the room which, granted, shouldn't have bothered her in the first place, Naruto reached over and pressed the back of his palm against her forehead, "Huh, you seem to be getting a fever or maybe a cold. Hey, Meelo, could you check her temperature for me real quick? Here," Naruto said, reaching for Meelo's hand and lifting it up so that he could feel her forehead. He had to stand though, but once he did, Naruto placed his palm flat on Korra's head and he said, "Isn't she hot?"

"Yeah! Really hot!"

When Korra heard Naruto ask Meelo if she was hot, she had thought it was innocent enough and just rolled her eyes at whatever the blond was trying to do. However, when she heard Meelo exclaim that she was, indeed, hot, Korra _knew_ from the victorious grin on Naruto's face that the blond wasn't talking about the symptoms of a 'fever'.

Ikki giggled while Jinora just rolled her eyes as she read through a book; Even though she tried to maintain indifference, there was a bit of a smile on her face as she did.

"Heh, you have great taste, kid. You're right. She _is _hot."

Naruto used his deft hands to reach behind Korra to pinch her butt without anyone noticing - except Korra that is. Korra's eyes widened and she was about ready to put her fist through Naruto's smug face, but she realized that, with the three of them sitting there in the room, she'd probably have to explain why she just decked him for no reason, and he could easily say he wasn't at fault.

Korra smiled deceptively sweet and leaned in close to his ear, snarling as she said, _"You are one sneaky bastard."_

Naruto hummed in the affirmative and leaned over to her and kissed her on the lips when she was close enough.

Korra's eyes widened, and she reeled back as if she were literally shocked by a jolt of electricity, but it was too late.

"You two _are_ seeing each other!" said Pema enthusiastically as she walked in with Tenzin carrying the majority of the plates on a large platter. Pema walked around to her seat, but not before placing a hand on Korra's shoulder and saying, "_Great_ choice. He's a cutie." She looked at Meelo and said, "Sweetie, come take a sit here next to me and your father."

Meelo shot up out of his chair and pretended he was a biplane, swooping down toward his mother by jumping over the table. Pema, of course, paled but was glad that he didn't trip and crash into her or Tenzin at least.

Korra groaned, embarrassed that everyone seemed to approve of Naruto and they didn't even know anything about him. Heck, she hardly knew anything about him. She knew that he was a great kisser and that he seemed to be fairly well educated, not to mention a great escape artist after being pulled out of the trap that Amon had sprung for her. _Oh, and he likes tea, I think._ She waited patiently as Tenzin placed a plate down in front of her. "What did you make today, Pema?" She asked, looking at the pleasantly colored dish in front of her.

Smiling, the motherly woman said, "It's lychee nut surprise. Katara showed me how to make it a few years ago."

Tenzin smirked and said, "She's added a bit more to it though than what mother used to make. It tastes much better this way. Naruto, have you ever tried lychee nut?"

Naruto grinned and shook his head, extending his arm toward Tenzin as the older man passed him his plate. "No sir. I was always curious though about how you and your family prepared your food since you are all vegetarian. It's hard to imagine not eating meat, actually."

Tenzin nodded and set a shake glass filled with a light brown-colored drink in it. "Oh, what is this?" Naruto asked, stroking his chin as he lifted the drink up from the table.

Korra butted in with a grin on her face, forgetting her earlier shyness around the boy when she felt the need to explain to him just how amazing the drink was. "That's a pumpkin gingerbread smoothie! Pema makes them every once in a while and they are always delicious! I first tried them when she came to visit Lady Katara back home." Korra then noticed that Naruto didn't have a straw, so she looked around the table for one.

"Oh, that's right. I believe that was the first time that Pema and I had met you, wasn't it? We were newly married, I believe."

Korra nodded with a grin. "You two were very nice to me, though you were still a stick-in-the-mud back then too."

Naruto chuckled at the way Tenzin's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

Pema smiled, placing a hand over her heart as she looked at the young avatar with gratitude in her eyes, "Thank you so much, Korra. Really, they're nothing special. Tenzin grows quite a lot of different fruits and vegetables in his garden, so I just try and make fun and tasty stuff out of whatever we happen to have growing. Plus, since Tenzin likes baked goods, I thought crushed gingerbread in the smoothie might be a good idea, so I added that."

Naruto grinned, his eyes noting that Korra was looking around for something. Behind his back, Naruto held his straw as he said, "It's OK, Korra we can just share a straw*." Leaning over, Naruto took a sip from Korra's smoothie and closed his eyes as he let out a satisfied sigh, "Wow, Pema. These really are incredible. The gingerbread must be homemade, right? I think you're not giving yourself nearly enough credit. Would you mind giving a meat-eater like me the recipe for this?"

Pema beamed and said, "Of course! Thank you, Naruto." The look on her face, however, showed that she was more interested in Korra's current reaction to Naruto drinking from her glass.

Korra's eyes stared down at the glass in front of her and she looked up at her extended family, all doing a bad job of sneaking peeks across the table to see what she was going to do. Korra's eye twitched and she looked at Naruto who was busy sipping away at his own smoothie, though he wasn't using a straw since he didn't appear to have one.

The brunette took her spoon and started poking at the lychee nut surprise first, trying to avoid the looks coming from around the table at her.

_What should I do? _she wondered. _If I flip the straw around then I'll just have his saliva in my drink… but if I drink from the straw, isn't it weird that my lips will be where his were? But I've kissed him before, so it doesn't matter… except no one here knows that we've kissed except… oh shoot, never mind, he just kissed me a second ago and __**everyone**__ saw, including Pema._

Glaring at the drink, Korra brought it to her mouth and drank through the straw with conviction, not letting what the others thought get to her as she sucked down the delicious drink.

Naruto, meanwhile, grinned and said, "Oh, _here's_ my straw! I thought it was weird that I didn't get one." Naruto smiled saccharinely at Korra as the Avatar just stared back in shock when he placed his own straw in his drink again, sipping away happily.

_You've -got- to be kidding me._

Korra could feel the snickering at the table and knew it was coming from Ikki or Jinora, or probably both. Pema smiled warmly and said, "You two are so cute together. So how long have you been seeing one another? When did you meet? Korra never even told us about you until you rescued her and brought her back here to us."

Korra just kept sipping her drink, feeling somewhat defeated, figuring Naruto would answer this question just fine. She was also a little embarrassed herself to admit that a non-bender who wasn't a real fighter of any sort had managed to save her. It was a definite jab at her pride.

"Korra and I met before her announcement that she was the Avatar. I was quite surprised when I found out that the pretty girl that I met at a tea shop asking for directions with a polar bear dog in tow was the current reincarnation. She was very sweet, and I hoped that she'd sit there with me and drink some tea, but she seemed to be a little uneasy and in a hurry, so I went ahead and pointed her in the right direction and let her be. I didn't think I'd ever see her again, honestly, with all of the people there are in Republic City and the lifestyle that I lead. Not to mention that she still wears her southern water tribe clothes."

Tenzin smirked and said, "We've tried to get her accustomed to acolyte clothing, but she doesn't seem to like it."

Korra grumbled, "I like it just fine. I just don't like wearing that mini cape over my shoulders because it just gets in the way."

Tenzin frowned, "It is stylish and functional. You just don't know it because you haven't mastered your air bending yet."

Naruto swallowed another spoonful of his breakfast and smiled at Korra, saying, "I'd love to see you wrapped in orange."

After hearing that, Korra looked away from him, avoiding any more eye-contact as she started stuffing her face with her breakfast, trying to stay out of the conversation while her face was bright red.

"You seem to be quite fond of orange and red as well, Naruto." Pema pointed out with a smile while suppressing a squeal at his earlier observation of Korra.

"Yes ma'am. I also like older style clothes like some of the ones they still wear in the fire nation. This is my favorite Yukata, actually. I've had it for a few years now. Luckily it didn't get damaged in the scuffle we had with Amon."

Korra suddenly said, "Maybe we should talk about that for a minute. I know everyone was curious… and I have a few questions for you myself, Naruto."

Naruto turned to look at Korra in silence for a moment before he nodded. "Sure."

Meelo, peeking out from beside Korra in his seat, said, "Scary eyes!"

"Meelo, call him 'Naruto' please."

"Naruto please!" Meelo grinned and sipped at his lychee juice which he had been given instead of the smoothie, since his mother knew he didn't like them because of the texture.

Naruto smiled and said, "It's OK, he's just calling it like it is. I am a businessman before I am an artist. You might be surprised to know that I am the new owner of the Pro-Bending Arena as well as the franchise here in Republic City."

Tenzin's eyes widened, "So you were serious then? I see that the youth are becoming more and more talented with each generation. It must take a bit of ruthlessness then to have to negotiate for and run large businesses of that scale."

"It's not so bad. I started by owning a lot of smaller businesses and working for a few contacts that have given me their support throughout the years, but now I basically just pay everyone to do the work for me and I get to play the busybody at gala events like Councilman Tarrlok's party for Korra here. Actually, we met up there again that night, right before she left to join Tarrlok's taskforce. I was a little upset that he had managed to rope her into it, because it seemed like a useless endeavor to chase after someone like Amon."

Arching a brow, Tenzin asked, "And why do you say that?"

Naruto frowned, "You mean to tell me that you don't know that Amon has been operating here in Republic City for years without being caught? I mean… you don't just get a following like he has overnight. Surely he is deeply rooted underground… this conversation is starting to go into why I know this sort of thing… you remember I told you that I was an orphan? I lived in the Avatar's Children Orphanage until I was twelve years old."

Tenzin's eyes widened, but it was Pema who spoke, uttering a small gasp as she said, "Oh! That's the orphanage that your father opened up, isn't it?"

Frowning, Tenzin nodded. "Yes, it is. I tried to keep it funded for quite some time after he passed away, but because of my duties as a councilman and having to work with the acolyte training regimen… I was too busy; I had forgotten all about it.

"When I heard that there were a lot of shady things going on there…" Tenzin's eyes slowly looked down in a sorrowful manner. He didn't seem to be angry, but more disappointed with himself for what had ended up happening at the orphanage. "They were using children as bait to lure… well, there was a lot of criminal activity going on there. It had to be shut down and moved earlier this year. Everyone who worked there was let go and the council started working on hiring new people to run it at a new location in a safer part of the city."

Naruto smiled somberly. "I'm glad to hear that it's improving for _some _kids, at least. I was one of them. I actually left the orphanage around ten years old, but I was officially kicked out by twelve. So even if I tried to go back by then, they wouldn't have let me in. Unfortunately, by that point, I had become a real hoodlum and a bit of a pickpocket."

Korra's eyes widened and she asked, "You used to steal from people?"

Pema frowned, but kept her lips sealed for now. Korra was a bit naïve to the ways of the city, as a place like the Southern Water Tribe had less problems with poverty in comparison with Republic City. She understood the situation. Many of her friends growing up in Republic City were poverty-stricken because they either lost their home or their parents died from fights between benders. Some of them just disappeared one day and Pema never saw them again. Her parents were lucky enough to always find work and they often went to multiple jobs to make ends meet and she was able to enjoy her childhood for the most part, but she knew of children who went through hell because of the imbalance in wealth that was prevalent in their society.

Naruto nodded. "I had no other choice. I had nothing and no one and no way of making money. If I didn't, then I'd have to starve… I'm sorry," Naruto turned to look at Pema and Tenzin as he apologized, "I don't mean to bring up this sort of thing in front of your children. I know that it's only natural for a parent to want to protect their children from such things."

Pema smiled at him and placed her hand on Tenzin's arm as she turned to look at him. He looked over at his wife and smiled, then turned back to Naruto and shook his head. "Not at all. It means a lot to us that you have our children's well-being in mind when you speak even though you were not the one who brought up the conversation in the first place."

"It speaks volumes about your character." Pema interjected with a smile.

Tenzin nodded in agreement. "Yes, it does. And Korra, don't think I am upset. I actually think it is good for the children to know how lucky they are to have a roof over their heads and a nice meal in front of them. It is also a learning experience for you not to be too quick to pass judgment."

Naruto reached over to grab Korra's hand when he noticed she began to slump over as if something heavy had suddenly weighed her down. She was worried that she had picked a bad time to pry into Naruto's life, but when she felt his fingers wrap around her palm she knew that he wasn't offended or anything.

"I get it a lot. When people find out what I've done as a kid and, even as a young man, it is often too hard for them to see past that."

He brushed his thumb over her knuckles as he fondled her hand.

"I have some nice stories too though. I learned how to paint when this traveling merchant gave me my own set of art supplies in exchange for helping him to sell snake squid on a stick. He gave me one and told me to walk around and just take big bites out of it in front of people and talk about how good it was. When people asked me where I got it, I just smiled and sent them his way. I had probably six servings that day!" He offered a squint-eyed grin and reached for his smoothie.

Korra smiled at the thought of a young Naruto munching on a treat and over exaggerating about how tasty it was while walking around in a crowd. Tenzin chuckled and reached over to squeeze Pema's hand, mimicking the blond's guesture without even thinking about it. He then took his wife's smoothie and lifted it up to her lips so she could drink from the straw.

"Ah," Naruto said, removing his hand from Korra's and smacking his fist into his palm when he seemed to remember something. "I forgot to congratulate you two! You look absolutely radiant, Pema. I can only hope that one day my wife is as wonderful of a mother as you are."

Pema blushed and shook her head, pulling away from the smoothie after a small sip. "Oh, don't say that. I try, but you've seen these three. They drive me and Tenzin up the wall sometimes."

Tenzin looked away as he picked up his smoothie and muttered, "_Some_times…" only to wince in pain when Pema reached over and pinched him on the leg.

Shaking his head, Naruto said, "Jinora seems quite studious, Ikki is pleasant and sociable and Meelo is every much as excitable and rambunctious as I was when I was his age."

As Naruto turned to look at Jinora, Meelo blurted out, "Wow! You were my age once? Say, how old are you mister?"

Naruto nodded with a grin. "I'm nineteen." He then turned to Jinora and said, "I bet you read one or two books a week, don't you?"

Jinora smiled shyly under his scrutiny and nodded, humming affirmatively.

"That's commendable. One of my favorite places to spend time in is the library. Maybe Korra and I can take the three of you to the library in the city? Have you been there?"

Eyes widening, Jinora said, "Yes, but only once! And I didn't get to stay there long!" She then turned to glare at Ikki and Meelo who just stared on in a confused and an aloof manner, respectively. They had obviously forgotten how much they complained about how boring it was in the library.

Pema gasped in excitement as she said, "Honey, wouldn't that be a great idea? You said it yourself the other day that you needed to take some time off. Wouldn't that be perfect if Korra and Naruto would watch the kids for us?"

Stroking his beard, Tenzin scrutinized the boy's posture and the look in his eyes and nodded, "I suppose that is what we were trying to do… Korra, would you be willing to baby-sit for us? I'm not sure how I feel about the children going out into the city, but perhaps if the five of you stayed here on the island for now then maybe next time I would feel more comfortable."

Pema nodded and grinned, whispering into his ear, "_We could go into the city ourselves and maybe stay in a hotel. Eat at a nice restaurant."_

Flustering a bit, Tenzin mimicked a fish as he said, "Splendid."

Naruto smirked. He hadn't expected to get stuck babysitting _multiple_ times. But it didn't matter. If it helped with his desire to rope in the Avatar and bind her to him, then so be it. "Sure, that sounds good. I am sure it's not easy to let go of your kids."

Korra had remained silent even though Tenzin had asked her if she was OK to babysit. _Me?_ _The Avatar? Babysit? Sure, I guess, but isn't that what the acolytes are for? Then again… Naruto would be here with me the entire time, right?_

A small blush crept onto her face as she nodded.

"Yeah, I can babysit them. When did you have in mind?"

Tenzin smiled and said, "How about today?"

Naruto turned to look at Korra to see what her response would be. "I'm up for it if you are. Maybe we can go play with the baby bison… by the way, I'm still a little miffed that you lied to me like that, Tenzin." Naruto frowned and looked at Pema, "You know your husband tricked me into thinking that the big air bison would pick me up and drop me off fifty miles away if I got anywhere near their pups? I freaked out when one of them tackled me and I thought for sure I was a goner. Who knew how good their grip was mid-air, you know? Figured I was going to go splat on the ground somewhere in the middle of nowhere."

Korra chortled as she leaned against his shoulder, shaking her head. "He got _me _with that too!"

Laughing, Naruto hummed appreciatively when the young woman leaned against him. He wrapped his arm around her waist and scooted her over closer to him. Korra finally relented from pretending to be cold to him and just rested her head on his shoulder as they gazed into each other's eyes. For the moment, Korra was replaying the night under the moon where they kissed, and then the way he saved her from Amon and their little snuggling session afterwards. She remembered what he said to her last night and what he did for her this morning. The feeling in the pit of her stomach was like fire. She felt a burn that she wanted to put out but her skin was in the way, and it only seemed to get hotter the more she thought about him. Was this how it felt to fall in love? Should she give in so easily? Was she giving in easily? Korra bit her lower lip and just rubbed her nose into his shoulder, making him chuckle as he reached over and cupped her chin, whispering _'You OK?' to her._

Pema, Jinora and Ikki meanwhile, had stars, hearts and glitter in their eyes.

"They're going to make such a cute couple." Pema whispered to Tenzin.

Tenzin just nodded in agreement and said, "Yes, dear."

oOo

(Police Headquarters)

"I'm innocent, damn it! I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but I do not have any Equalist ties! My old man used to run the business before he skedaddled off to do spirit knows what."

"We found some hard evidence there. If you come clean then we can make this much easier for you. You might even get to make a deal before the trial."

Kiba Inuzuka looked up at Lin Beifong who sat on one edge of the metal table in the middle of the room, her arms crossed as she turned her torso toward the young man sitting in the chair. Across the room, leaning against the wall was Saikhan, who was listening intently as he watched the chief work.

"I want my lawyer."

Smirking, Lin shook her head and said, "Not happening. You are considered a major component of the terrorist movement and their agenda. Your citizen's rights have been suspended until you give us what we need."

Kiba thought about what she was saying for a long time before he looked up and said, "What if I gave you some info on the person who's really running that company?"

Arching a brow, Lin stood upright and turned to look at him directly, crossing her arms in front of her as she spoke in a commanding voice, "Talk."

"Fine… but you have to protect me, because if you don't, and he finds out that I talked about him, I'm definitely a dead man."

Saikhan stared at the young man in silence, a look of discomfort in his eyes as he thought of what the latest message said:

_Kill the pig that squeals._

**Author: **Alright. The quote in the beginning was more about me struggling to finish this chapter in a satisfactory way than anything relating to the story, though I believe Korra emphasizes in this chapter just how hard it is sometimes to not say the wrong thing, especially to a person that you might care about. There is a lot of stuff going on in this chapter, I like to think. A lot of stuff going on in my life too (finally decided to switch to an Art major, and I'm extremely happy with it!)

I hope it was as enjoyable reading it as it was for me to write. I couldn't stop, and unfortunately I haven't felt motivated to update Gilded. I have 5k words but I don't want to just upload _anything_. It's hard to be funny, I realize, especially when you set yourself up in a certain frame of mind writing something like this… it's just difficult to switch around and try to be funny, which is basically all I'm trying to do with Gilded.

I will be posting a few polls on my profile page that you can vote on regarding Naruto and Korra in this story. I may add a new one for Gilded in case anyone would like to help me decide on what to write about there (will probably post a few ideas you can vote on :D ).

If you liked my story, please review and fav me here and join me on deviantArt! There's a link on my profile. I also draw, and I will be drawing a cover-page for this story soon (been practicing A LOT).

Thank you for reading.

*Share a straw. I spent too much time trying to say this without saying something like sherrishaw.


	6. Chapter 6

**Lazebe: I don't own Naruto or TLOK series. **Changed the story picture thanks to NeoNazo356's advice. Thanks for the idea, man!

oOo

"_There's a demon inside you. It's inside both of you… _

_Look, everyone! __**This**__ is what hatred looks like! This is what it does when it catches hold of you! It's eating me alive, and very soon it will kill me! Fear and anger only make it grow faster!" - Ashitaka on the demon curse, from "Princess Mononoke", the movie._

_oOo_

Saikhan watched, sweat dripping from his brow as he wondered just whom he was supposed to kill. There were two people in the interrogation room with him. One was Kiba Inuzuka and the other was Lin Beifong.

_Kill the pig that squeals_.

Kill the pig that squeals? What the hell did they mean by that? Kill Kiba because he's going to squeal or kill Beifong because she was a 'pig', or a cop? At any rate, he had to get to one or the other before she finally proved that her hunch had been correct. Killing Kiba only was not something he thought he could pull off without rousing suspicion, and it looked like he was about ready to gab already, so Saikhan had to make a decision.

She had told him already that she believed Naruto was the new leader of the Triad mob. She believed that he was also responsible for the deaths of Viper and the other leaders of the bending Triads, and that Sasuke was like a right-hand man to him or some kind of important assistant or possibly an assassin. The raven haired boy had the dark, impassive eyes for it.

He wondered how much of that was truth. All he knew was that he was stuck in a vice grip and there seemed to be no way to get out other than to continue doing as he was told.

The package that he had received in his office the afternoon following "Officer Onizuka's" sleepover at his family's home weighed heavily on his mind. The message was obvious: _I can get to your family whenever I want._

What could he do? Hide his family? Sure, that was the first alternative that he had come up with. They were no longer staying in the same home now. He demanded that they stay in his home after moving them briefly to a safe house that was quickly broken into the very night of the move. He rushed back to find a knife lodged _on the inside_ of the front door with a note on it, the question, _"You're joking, right?" _written in the same bright red color that he had to guess was scribbled using lipstick. He wondered if he had also stolen his wife's lipstick and she hadn't told him about it. She wasn't wearing any when he last saw her, and she loved to put it on because it was her favorite imported brand from the Fire Nation.

The bodyguards that had been watching his family never even noticed anyone move in and slam the blade into the door until they heard it. When they moved to check and see what that loud sound was, he was already gone.

Saikhan had gotten each of the men to swear to him that they would not report to Beifong about what was going on with his family. Instead, he said, he would talk to her himself when he felt it was necessary to bother her, claiming that she needed to focus on the current problems with the Triads and the Equalist movement that was inexplicably silent at the moment.

"OK," Kiba said, his eyes closed as he leaned forward in his chair, his arms still tied behind his back. "I'll tell you… the truth is, the person who is running everything… the person who _really_ owns Inuzuka Shipping Co. and helped build those tunnels underground is…"

Beifong's eyes narrowed while Saikhan's heart began to beat loudly in his chest. _What should I do?_

He noticed how filled with intent the chief was, waiting anxiously for Kiba to say what she knew he was going to say. All she needed was to hear it, and that would be enough for her to go out and get him.

And Saikhan's family would be dead. He knew. No one had to tell him what the consequences were. Only a few days ago, prior to the Avatar's initial speech to Republic City, Saikhan was knocked unconscious in his own home and, when he came to, he was sitting in a chair in the dark, tied down and gagged.

All around him were pictures that he had of his family in his home hanging from fishing hooks on lines. _"Got the message, old man?" _came the muffled words in a strangely gruff tone of voice. "_I've already caught your family. If you screw up, then all I have to do is reel them in."_

When Saikhan heard the whirring sounds of fishing reels all around him, he shuddered. In the room, the sound echoed and it sounded like a chorus of hisses. He didn't know where he was, but when a moist rag was held up against his face, he knew that he wouldn't see those pictures again. Before he passed out, he remembered staring into bright blue eyes that seemed a little blurry in the dim light. He also noticed blond hair, but the facial expression was unreadable, as was anything else in the dark of that large room they were in.

He woke up later, sprawled out on the yard in front of his home with the vehicle that dropped him off honking to get the attention of the guard that was watching over the family from inside. Before the guard could chase after them, Saikhan reached out and grabbed him by his ankle, saying, "Don't… it'll only make things worse…"

…

There was nothing he could do about it if he didn't act now.

Beifong growled, getting even closer to the young man tied to the metal chair in front of her and said, "Out with it, damn it!" She was about to grab him by his collar when she felt something tight pull back on her throat. "Tell me you-eurghk!"

Lin's eyes widened as she felt a cord wrap around her throat and two strong hands pull back on it to strangle her. Her feet began to lift off of the ground as she was pulled up, Saikhan brought his arms up in between her back and his chest as he held the chord in a death grip. He then pulled his shoulders back while puffing out his chest to make it harder for her to reach the ground and to strangle her even further. As Beifong gasped for breath, her eyes tearing up in pain and a mixture of shock and fury in her facial features for Kiba to see, the young man sitting tied to the chair started to laugh as he shook his head in disbelief at the sight before him.

"And here I thought I was going to be the dead man… wow, guess his influence runs this far, huh? To think that the Chief of Police's top dog would be working for Menma… this is just remarkable."

Lin was choking, her hands gripping for the chord desperately as she tried to get out, not sure if she could go through the motions necessary to bend her way out of this or focus enough to use her own steel-laced rubber chord on her back to fend off her assailant. Of course, Saikhan had thought this through well enough to use a durable, solid rubber chord that had very little stretch to it. Still, though he had a firm grip on her, he failed to notice how close to the metal table they were. Using everything she had, Lin stopped trying to go for the chord and instead moved her arms to try and bend the metal of the table. Though normally she could easily bend something so close to her without much movement, the stress that was placed on her by being strangled to death was making it impossible to use what some benders referred to as psychic bending. Even the best benders who only had to nod their head to bend their elements had to concentrate to be able to pull any of it off, and as an experienced earth and metal bender, Saikhan was well-aware of this fact.

Kiba watched with wide eyes as he saw the table vibrate, noting the difficulty she was having since she was being strangled and was quickly running out of breath while her blood supply was being cut off.

"Just stop moving, Lin. I don't know who this _Menma_ person is, but I can't let you live now that you know who he was going to rat out… I'm sorry, but it's for my family. Even if I go to prison for the rest of my life, I have to do something for them… this is the only thing…"

Suddenly, three long spikes shot out of the table as the table nearly crumpled up at the edges to form the shape in the middle. One missed while two impaled Saikhan's thigh and gut, causing him to bellow out in agony and frustration. He still held the chord firmly though he lurched over a bit. That was all Beifong needed to shift her weight enough to loosen his grip and stomp on his foot before elbowing him in the side of his face to knock him off of her.

While he doubled over, impaling himself further on the spikes protruding from the desk, Lin turned around to watch him even as she gasped deeply for breath, a loud, desperate sound breaking past her lips as she wailed in pain from the burning sensation in her lungs and the damaged trachea from Saikhan's fierce grip with the chord.

His eyes looked dead, but his body was still moving. In an instant, he was upon her, bending the table to shoot it like a bloody projectile at her before moving in to strike, chord still in hand. With practiced agility, Lin dodged out of the way of the flying table and used her metal bending to spin it around her and bring it back up in front where she immediately kicked at it, bending it back into its normal form and sending it back at him, legs first.

His eyes widened when he suddenly found himself melded into the wall with the table wrapped around him like a claw, its legs acting as the talons that pinned him down, with part of the wall moving to lock his head and legs in place in case he was capable of bending with only small movements. It was just to be safe, as Lin was pretty sure he could not to the extent that she could.

Falling down to one knee, the chief of police hacked as she tried to settle her breathing still. She had not had adequate time after being freed to breathe properly, and her lungs still ached sorely like she had been kicked very hard in the chest by a monkey horse.

"S-Saikhan… what the hell… what the _hell_ were you thinking?!" Lin swallowed, moaning in pain as she sat on her knees on the floor now, looking up with anger in her eyes as he hung motionlessly like a fixture on the wall.

"My family… he threatened my family."

Beifong grabbed her throat as she stood up, saying in a raspy voice, "You didn't come to me. Why?"

"I couldn't, Lin. I'm sorry…" He was utterly defeated. She could see the look in his eyes. It was the look of someone who had failed miserably and he was now uncertain of just how he was going to face the consequences. There was desperation in his eyes, but it was also dying and he seemed to be growing callous to the idea that his family would be killed for sure.

"You bastard… you spineless _coward!_ Had you just… come to me, we could have caught him… together… but there is no… turning back from this, Saikhan…" As she spoke, there were periodic pauses while she coughed some more or wheezed, a protective hand still cradling her throat as she talked, as if her trachea would collapse if she moved her hand from there.

Suddenly, her eyes widened and she used the metal from the wall with a sweeping motion of her other arm and brought several spiral drills pointed right at Kiba's head, her eyes lit with fire as she snarled at him, "You are lying. Tell me… _tell me the truth!_ It is _not_ Menma! I've never even… heard of this person! Tell me who… killed Viper and the rest of the triad bosses!"

Kiba watched the make-shift spearheads rotating in the air, the spiral shape spinning in front of him and causing him to feel distracted for a moment even while the points were aimed right at his skull and Lin seemed to barely be able to restrain herself.

He didn't know what to do. Why wasn't the stupid bitch listening to him? His jaw quivered in fear as he shut his eyes and ducked his head down, yelling as loud as he could, "I don't know what else to tell you, alright? The guy's name is fucking Menma, OK?!"

"Why are you still trying to cover for him, huh?" Lin's voice returned full force as she reached out and smacked Kiba across the face, "You are lying to the chief of police, and even with this scumbag here behind me, I have no qualms about disfiguring you and putting you in the hospital for the rest of your life, you cowardly fool! Now tell me the truth!"

"I told you, alright? It's fucking Menma… fucking Menma… He's an orphan and he grew up here in Republic City, learned to pinch and forge documents and was trained by this old bastard that he called the toad, alright?! He never really talked to me that much. All he did was come by every once in a while to use the board room and the executive office for his business meetings and to screw some of the secretaries there. I didn't ask him for his fucking birth certificate, alright? I just fucking listened to what he said because if I didn't, I knew he was going to kill me! I saw him kill people. _In. That. Office. _Alright?! C'mon lady, you gotta believe me. I ain't lying alright? I swear… please, I swear… oh fuck… oh fuck…"

Kiba started to cry when he opened his eyes and saw that one of the drills was pointed right up against his forehead and it was starting to spin. He begged her over and over, piss staining his pants as he tried to pull away from the chair that seemed to be bolted to the ground, though he knew that it wasn't. She must have done something with her bending to keep it in place because he had shifted around in it before.

"He's got blond hair and blue eyes and he walks around in an orange robe or some shit, alright?! That's all I know! Please… please… please…" he didn't know what else to say. He was begging in between sobs, certain that she was going to turn his face into a pin-cushion and probably worse after seeing all of those spinning drill-shaped spikes pointed at him.

Lin yelled out, furious that he wouldn't tell the truth. She kicked him in the chest and the chair suddenly fell down though it had not moved at all before.

_At the very least, _she thought, _that fit his description. He's probably using a fake name. I just have to bring him in and get him to talk and I'll be done with this damn mess._

She then turned to Saikhan and noticed that there were several of her officers standing around, A sense of dread bit at her flesh when she saw them bending the metal of the table and the wall to get Saikhan down from where she had pinned him up. They surrounded her with quiet stares aimed in her direction.

The looks in their eyes… it wasn't good.

oOo

"She's skipping _again_? How are we going to work as a team at our first match of the tournament?"

Bolin looked at his brother with a big, toothy grin on his face and he punched him on the shoulder, saying, "Hey! This is Korra we're talking about here. She's game. She just has some more … important… stuff… to… hm… yeesh." Baring his teeth, Bolin scratched his head and said, "I guess we shoulda seen it coming with her being the Avatar and all, huh?"

Mako glowered at his brother, crossing his arms as he huffed air out through his nose.

He was upset, no doubt about it, but it wasn't because Korra missed their training. It was because of what he saw the other night.

He remembered the blond man in the strange orange clothing reaching over and kissing the Avatar deeply. She didn't look like she was resisting him at all; rather, it was more like she was melting against his body, goose bumps trailed up her strong arms and Mako could see clearly the redness around her neck, face and ears as she opened her mouth to be explored by the unknown man. It didn't help that the soft mewls she was making were so damn sexy.

_He_ wanted to be the one to make her moan like that. To make her squirm and gasp and sigh.

Funny how he had completely forgotten about Asami, but it was just the way his mind worked. Once he had Korra in his head, he couldn't think about anything else.

"We should go find out what she's doing. Find out why she hasn't been coming to practice. Tarrlok's taskforce can't be taking up _all_ her time."

An image of the brown-skinned girl lying on her back, staring deeply into the eyes of the blond man as he began to disrobe her burned into his mind.

"You mean go visit her at Air Temple Island? You think she'd be cool with that?" Bolin asked, blinking with a slight smile growing on his lips at the prospect of seeing the beautiful Avatar again.

"Why not? We're her teammates, right?" Mako's eyebrow twitched at the thought of Korra not wanting to see him. He huffed and started to stalk out of the training room with his arms crossed in front of him.

Pumping his fists up into the air, Bolin yelled, "Let's go! C'mon Pabu!"

The small creature turned its head curiously and made a cute sound as it looked on at the contrasting images of the two men in the room.

oOo

Konohamaru watched as Tarrlok all but ran out of the council building as he moved toward his car. If he thought he could get closer, Konohamaru would have tried, but there were just too many things going on lately at the council and it would be too easy to spot a kid running around in there. Instead, Konohamaru just marked down all of the times that Tarrlok came and left, and followed him wherever he went. In cases like these, Konohamaru would get on a bike he had hidden away nearby so that he could keep up with the satomobile. Except this time, Konohamaru was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to catch up at the speed that they were going from the get go.

"What could he be in such a hurry to go do? I wonder what he's up to…"

Deciding it was best to just wait for the councilman to return for an hour or so before going back to scope out his home again, Konohamaru figured it was pretty safe for him to go grab himself some snacks while he waited.

Before he could move, however, he heard a quiet voice from behind him say, "I was wondering that myself, kid."

Eyes wide, Konohamaru spun around with his knife drawn, only to have it knocked out of his hand before his assailant thrust a baton into his abdomen. The boy yelled out in pain when he was shocked from the Equalist weapon held by Amon's lieutenant. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as he passed out from the electrical shock.

Smirking, the lieutenant grabbed the brat by his collar and said, "Funny. I thought I was the only one spying on councilman Tarrlok."

Thinking about it, he decided to bring the kid in to see Amon so that he could decide what to do with him. His first guess was that he'd be tortured so that they could find out why he was tailing the councilman.

oOo

Sakura saw the destruction laying in the wake of Lin Beifong's escape from police headquarters. She couldn't believe her ears when she found out that the Chief of Police in Republic City tried to kill her second-in-command because he had found out that she was affiliated with the Triads. It wasn't like someone told her, but even if she wasn't trying to find out what had happened, it was hard not to listen to the conversation between two noisy detectives that were watching over Sasuke's room at the moment.

"Y'know, Lu. I never took Beifong for a sleeper; figured she was one of the last few honorable cops in the force, you know?"

"I don't know, Gang. She was always a little _too _into the job, wasn't she?"

"Pffbt! Sure, I guess. A bossy bitch, I'll tell you what."

"Trying to sneak away snacks isn't going to be as fun as it used to be."

Gang's eyes widened and he said, "You're right… but on the upside: we can eat all of the donuts and drink as many cups of coffee as we want now!"

Nodding, Lu responded, "Yeah, Saikhan was never that uptight about it."

Sakura rolled her eyes as she lost interest in their conversation. As Sasuke's assistant, she was given certain tasks she had to accomplish and she was only told so much about them, so she had no idea what Sasuke and Naruto had planned by sending Sasuke to the police headquarters. To find out that it was to remove Beifong from her position was a little bit of an eye-opener and almost unbelievable. She saw one man was sitting in a chair in his police uniform with a metal rod still in his shoulder. Two more officers were standing next to him and talking about whether or not it was safe to bend the metal out of there. Apparently, if they messed up, they could accidentally cause the metal to expand and they could rip his shoulder away from his torso. Sakura hoped they decided to wait for someone with more expertise before attempting something which appeared to be so delicate.

"It hurts so bad!"

"I am _so_ sorry, man. I didn't mean to…"

"Well you did, asshole, alright? Now go get a doctor already! Damn!"

"Yeah, go ahead and go get someone. I'll stay here to keep an eye on him." After one of the officers left, the other turned to him and said, "Jeez. What made him think he could break through that freaking thing anyways? We didn't even slow it down. It was weird too, different from the kind of metal bending that we're used to."

"Yeah." The officer with the metal rod sticking out his shoulder said, "It's Lin Beifong we're talking about here. She obviously knows more about metal and earth bending than we do."

"Yeah, but just _how much_ does she know, exactly? I knew she was dangerous, but she managed to overpower at least twenty of us!"

Sakura quickly phased out the conversation and proceeded to wait patiently, though she was starting to yawn due to boredom. When she heard the door open, however, Sakura stood up and was about to walk over when she noticed that his lawyer was the only person who left the room. Slightly annoyed, Sakura frowned and sat back down, crossing her legs as she waited with as much patience as she was capable of at the moment.

His lawyer's name was Shino Aburame. He was a strange man who always wore a pair of spectacles with quartz lenses that were smoked to change the color and hide his eyes. The spectacles were bronze-colored and they almost looked like goggles, even concealing his eyes from a profile view of his face. She had only met him once and he didn't even speak to her when she said hello, so she felt like it wouldn't change now.

oOo

(A few minutes earlier, inside of the detainment and questioning room where Sasuke is)

"Thank you for coming, Shino, but I must speak with the acting Chief of Police for a moment."

Saikhan raised an eyebrow, slightly concerned that Sasuke somehow knew about all of the commotion that went on only a few minutes ago. Sure, Lin was loud on the way out, but Sasuke had been in the room this whole time.

Had he expected this?

Shino, meanwhile, simply nodded and said, "Please remember every word that you say to him. I cannot witness it, however, so whether you do or not may not help you in court, Mr. Uchiha."

Sasuke nodded and waved his hand, gesturing for Shino to go ahead and go. When the Aburame lawyer stepped out of the second interrogation room, this one being different in that it actually had a door and wasn't accessible only to metal benders, Sasuke looked up at Saikhan and smirked.

Saikhan frowned and said, "You're a part of this scheme too, aren't you?"

"Remember your family. Menma is not one to rape a woman, but I have no qualms about stealing your eldest daughter away for my own personal enjoyment. Heh, I saw those family photos of yours. How do you have such a nice looking daughter anyways, huh? Both you and your wife are disgusting, but your daughter's a little jewel… she's got your wife's fat lips too. I wonder what those would feel like wrapped around my-"

"Enough! I get it! But I swear, if you dare touch my daughter or any of my family I will find you and I will kill you myself!"

Smirking, Sasuke said, "Like you're in a position to make threats. Put your tail back in between your legs where it belongs, you rabid old dog."

The raven haired man stood up from his chair and turned to look at Saikhan saying, "I trust that you'll take care of pursuing Beifong?"

Nearly foaming at the mouth, Saikhan had to call on every shred of willpower to keep him from reaching out and choking the Uchiha there where he stood. _What a smug bastard! He doesn't even try and hide that he's involved anymore now that Lin is gone… what have I gotten myself into?_

"I'll take that constipated look on your face as a yes. Also, remember not to move your family anymore. We are watching and we will find out if you move them. If you try and sneak them away one more time then you can expect their extracurricular activities outside of the home to be quite eventful."

Waving a hand, Sasuke walked out toward the exit. "Your contact with Menma will visit you in your office tomorrow in the afternoon. Free up your schedule. Also, you have to make an official statement to the press tonight about Lin Beifong's sudden breakdown and her subsequent attempt on your life. Make sure you sound convincing, or you'll be replaced."

"Oh, and I was never officially detained by the police. Make sure you take care of that. It should be easy since I was basically extra-legally held in the first place. Until we meet again, Chief of Police." Sasuke said with a smile before he closed the door shut behind him.

Saikhan looked at the paperwork he had in front of him regarding Sasuke and he shook his head. He would have to destroy signed statements and Lin's account of Sasuke's detainment and what he told them 'officially'.

He had gone this far…

… and now to begin the search for Lin Beifong.

oOo

After escaping the police headquarters by blasting a giant hole in the front of the building, Lin immediately took the sewer route which she remembered from the schematics that Sasuke brought in when he turned himself in. It wasn't hard navigating through the normal maintenance tunnels that were built for the city, but the Inuzuka Company's tunnels were built so that people couldn't easily find them. Or at least, normal people. As an earthbender, Lin quickly found her way and headed toward the docks. She had to get to Air Temple Island to tell Tenzin what had happened. She doubted he would believe them if he were told that she had been working for the Triads all along, but she didn't want to take the chance that he wouldn't decide to cut ties with her because of his family. The two of them weren't on the best of terms, but she hoped that he could see through this to aid her in her time of need.

Earlier, to escape the headquarters, she had to deal with Saikhan and his men who she was certain were actually working for Naruto. Chasing her out of the room, Saikhan immediately fired a wire at Lin, but found that he no longer had footing as the ground beneath him caved in and left him out of the equation entirely. Lin expertly avoided three other attackers and bent a large metal desk inside of an office nearby and spun, throwing it at her assailants who had clustered up in the hallway. When they caught the desk using their own metal bending skills together, Lin clicked her tongue in annoyance and flicked her wrists, shooting the drawers out of the desk at them and bashing each of them in the faces with the detachable compartments.

Using this as her chance to escape past them and ignore the officers making their way up the hallway from behind her, Lin waved her arm and used the desk to force them to retreat into one of the offices, stopping short of crushing them but pushing the desk far enough to butt them inside and bend the door shut by focusing on the metal handle to pull it closed even as she ran out toward the front of the building.

When she saw nearly twenty officers waiting for her at the end of the hallway out in the lobby, Lin decided she had to act quickly or risk having Saikhan catch up with her. Really, he was the biggest threat here, as most of their metalbenders were good, but nowhere near their level of control and precision. To prove this, she stamped her foot into the ground in front of her and created a wave of rising earth that pushed past the tile on the ground and toppled everyone in its path. Several of her officers were able to jump out of the way in time, but most of them were now lying on the ground after being tossed around the room like ragdolls.

When she saw a wire net in her peripheral, Lin erected a single pillar about the size of a post and then proceeded to break it up into sections after it caught the net for her. She then shot out the sections in such a way that they spread the net out and caught three of the officers who had moved out of the way earlier from the wave, leaving them as a tangled mess on the ground.

Seeing more police moving in from the front door, Lin stood up straight and brought her hands close to her center before proceeding to use an authentic bending stance which allowed her to carefully construct a metal drill with a spiraled body out of the surrounding sheet-metal of the walls that were used to the police's advantage when dealing with some of the tougher suspects that were brought in for questioning and detainment and the like. She then created a make-shift tank which she used to crash into the front door, forcing everyone to jump out of the way or get trampled. Luckily, only one man was injured when another officer tried to strike at the drill-tank with a rod of iron that deflected off of it and impaled that officer's shoulder. He fell to the ground with a yelp and was immediately pulled out of the way before the tank could drop some debris on him after getting through the front door and demolishing most of the front of the building.

By the time they regrouped and headed out to chase after the drill-tank, Lin had already left it and was heading towards the sewers while still controlling the mini-tank enough to inch it forward to throw them off of her trail. When they finally opened it, she would be long gone.

oOo

(An hour before Beifong's escape from prison)

Naruto grinned and waved at Tenzin and Pema while holding Korra by the waist. The watertribe girl was uncharacteristically shy at the moment because of just how close they were to one another out in public. While Naruto was waving, Korra was busy pushing away from him, mumbling that it was embarrassing to hug like this with Pema and Tenzin watching them. Pema gushed at the cute couple and hugged Tenzin as their air bison flew them across the body of water below to the city where she planned on dragging him to many shops in order to shop for their new child which hadn't been born yet. Tenzin smiled softly and waved back at the two on land before turning back to Pema as they flew away.

Chuckling, Naruto asked, somewhat rhetorically as he hadn't expected an answer from the woman standing by his side, "Those two are still very much in love, aren't they?"

Korra nodded with a soft smile on her face as she said, "They have little quarrels sometimes, but they are very much in love. Even before you got here and got Pema all worked up ~because you did, you know~ the two of them were always doing small things together on their own like taking walks around the island and writing small notes to one another and leaving them in places where they were sure only they would look."

Naruto's grin turned into a lascivious smile as he said, "And I'm guessing you found one of their dirty ones, didn't you?"

Before Korra could screech out a rebuttal, she slapped her hands over her mouth in a hurry to keep from blurting anything out when Meelo suddenly stood in front of them, asking with his head tilted to the side, "What did you find that was dirty, Korra?"

A treacherous smile on his face, Naruto said, "Oh, she just found some dirty underwear of hers lying around."

"Naruto!" Korra shrieked in his ear, grabbing him by his yukata to pull him in close so she could glare at him.

Her grip faltered however when she heard Meelo laugh, and her embarrassment was doubled when Naruto used her roughhousing attempt to wrap both of his arms around her waist, leaving her arms free.

"Ha ha! Korra had an accidents! Ha ha ha! Korra has dirty underwhere!" Meelo chirped in amusement as he spun about while waving his arms around.

Snickering, Naruto ducked under a hook that Korra half-heartedly threw at him. Smoothly, Naruto transitioned to sitting on one knee and he said, turing to the young boy, "Hey, Meelo, come here. I've got a gift for you, buddy."

A vein seemed to pop out above Korra's brow as she glared down at the blond, hoping that he could somehow feel just how pestered she was by his teasing.

Meelo's eyes suddenly widened and his ears perked up in surprise. "Huh? What kind of gift?!" said the young boy, interrupting Korra's angry attempt at a psychic hate-message. "Did you get me a blimp? I want to drive one of those things that flies up in the air. Oh! Or a cadapull. My daddy showed me a dwawing of one and I want a cadapull."

Blinking, Naruto arched a brow and asked, "Do you mean a 'catapult'?

"Yeah! A cadapull! That's what I said!"

Laughing, Naruto nodded and turned to look at Korra as he said, "Hey, come sit here with us, Korra. I need your help for his gift."

Skeptical about how she was going to help him, Korra sat beside Meelo in case Naruto was going to try something perverted to her. The soft smile on his face broke through her defenses eventually, and she watched with curiosity in her eyes, much like Meelo, as he reached out and held his hands up, saying, "OK, see my palms? Nothing in them, right?"

Meelo nodded and Korra muttered, unimpressed, "Yeah, so?"

Chuckling at her skeptical tone, Naruto flicked his wrist and reached out to cup Korra's chin as he reached in and gave her a quick kiss. Eyes wide, Korra immediately pulled away and looked at him with a twitching eyebrow as he held a large coin in between his teeth which he then proceeded to grab with his fingers. Once he had it in his hand, he wiped it off with his Yukata as he said, "Jeez Korra, why were you hiding Meelo's gift in your mouth? Look, now your saliva is all over it and it's icky. I have to clean it off before I hand it to Meelo."

Frowning, Korra crossed her arms and said, "I wasn't hiding it in my mouth!"

Meelo, on the other hand, pointed at her and said, "Yes you was, Korra! I sawed it!"

Rolling her eyes, Korra noted that Jinora and Ikki were starting to walk over to see what was going on. What they saw was Naruto moving the coin back and forth between his fingers by twitching them in a certain way and catching the coin as he allowed gravity to work for him. Jinora, however, seemed a little off-put by Naruto's appearance for some reason. Korra looked at Tenzin's eldest daughter, curious as to what was wrong, but she eventually turned back to watch Naruto show off Meelo's gift.

Meanwhile, Jinora was shaking in her shoes. There were some things about Naruto that were just too weird to not have been brought up in conversation before and Jinora was seeing them. She wasn't sure how she hadn't noticed them before, but there were markings on Naruto's face that reminded her of animal whiskers.

She remembered seeing that creature the other day that no one else seemed to be able to see, and Naruto gave off that same feeling. She knew what that creature was from looking it up in her father's scrolls, but she didn't want to believe it. Not until just now, while she stood there and watched Naruto play with the coin.

After a few tricks of hiding the coin behind their ears and teasing Korra a little more by asking her to be his lovely assistant, Naruto held the large coin up and looked right at Meelo.

"Alright Meelo, I'm now going to airbend this coin from one hand to another. Watch closely."

Everyone, including Korra, blurted out in unison, "You're an airbender?!"

Grinning, Naruto performed a muscle pass with the coin, using his thumb and the center of his palm to pop the coin up into his other hand which he held up above it a bit away in order to catch it. Once he had the coin, he passed it along his knuckles and then dropped it back down to the hand he had passed it with in the first place. "See? Airbending."

Meelo's eyes were wide. Korra muttered an expletive and Ikki just blinked as a hundred questions flew through her brain and her jaw dropped like a broken window blind toward the ground.

"OK, Korra. Now I want you to hold up your hand way up here," he took her hand gently by the wrist and lifted it up to show her where, then he smiled and said, "And when you see the coin pop up to your hand, make sure to catch it!"

Korra and Meelo were both astounded by the "airbending" that Naruto was doing, but Ikki was arching a brow and starting to stroke her chin in a thoughtful way as she noticed how he placed the coin in his palm.

Jinora, however, was watching a whole other spectacle than the false airbending in front of them. She saw something permeating from Naruto's skin. It was translucent, but it wasn't exactly like water. It writhed all about his body in tendril shapes that appeared to be coming from inside of him. They were dark, purple, with glowing red centers. She thought it looked kind of like worms crawling around inside of a carcass, but Naruto was still perfectly alive and well. She watched apprehensively as he reached over to her and held the coin up in front of her. One of the "worms" crawling around his arm suddenly fell down onto one of her shoes as he held the coin in front of her face before he spoke.

"Want to try, Jinora?" he asked with a grin, trying to get her to smile because he had noticed the odd look on her face while she sat there silently.

Jinora suddenly screamed as she stood up and ran away as far as possible from the blond.

Korra and Jinora's siblings looked on in surprise while Naruto's eyes narrowed in confusion.

_This girl… she was watching me very closely… what exactly was she looking at anyways?_

"You should go talk to her," Naruto said, snapping Korra and the others' attention back onto him. He laughed, but there was a hurt look in his eyes as he said, "Must be my scary eyes."

Patting Meelo on the head after handing him the coin, Naruto stood up and walked over to a bench where he took a seat and nodded at Korra, telling her to go ahead and go after Jinora to see what was wrong with her. He could watch the others from there.

Korra frowned at the melancholy look in his blue eyes and decided that wasn't a good look for him. "OK, you two. Try and cheer Naruto up for me, OK? There's some lychee juice in it for you."

Ikki's eyes widened and she said, "Lychee juice?! OK! Sure!"

"I need to ask him more about his airbending!" Meelo announced, rushing off before Ikki who complained and chased after him, trying to catch up.

Shaking her head, Korra thought it was pretty amazing regardless of what he had done to shoot the coin up into his other hand without moving either hand, but she was pretty sure there was no airbending involved. Naruto had said it himself that he was a non-bender and had to resort to trickery and deceit to be able to combat with a bender, and she wondered if maybe that was another one of his little tricks. He probably also just claimed to be an airbender to surprise them, and it had worked splendidly!

Korra's eyes and nose crinkled as she smiled. She turned to find Jinora, but not before peering over her shoulder at the blond who was now seated on a nearby bench and looking up at the sky.

oOo

Before Ikki and Meelo could arrive to see if they could cheer Naruto up, the blond heard a voice reminiscent of ominous thunder overhead. Letting his eyes roll up into the back of his head, Naruto shuddered when he felt something pull him inwards, and before he knew it, he was standing in front of a massive waterfall. The roar of the water drowned out everything for a while, until he heard that voice again and, suddenly, he couldn't hear the water at all.

"_**How intriguing that you would find someone who is so in-tune with the world of the spirits; she is quite an interesting find indeed, my foolish little boy."**_

When Naruto heard his own voice, he was surprised to find how it sounded nothing like him. Instead, it was as if something was permeating his very essence and taking over him. This fox woman was indeed a fearsome creature. _"What does it matter that she has a connection with the spirit world, fox woman? Why should I care? The spirit world is of no concern to me… there's no money to be found in the spirit world. The only reason why I bother with the Avatar is because of the political power she could award me with using her title."_

The laughter that boomed out in the wooded area where he stood made him nearly fall back as his knees gave way. He struggled to keep himself upright, his eyes glaring up at the giant waterfall as he had long ago associated it with the fox woman who always hid from him within this mind-state. He had never once again seen her outside of that unknown patch of forest near the phoenix statue in the Fire Nation. Instead, he just heard this vile laughter and the strange voice that seemed to belong to her, and yet it didn't.

"_**You don't feel it, do you? You can't feel the evil that is growing beyond this world, yet seeping in and infecting the soil and the air and the water. It fuels anger and hatred, causes war and strife, and empowers the spirits residing in this world… and yet slowly kills them as well. You saw it when we last met with the **__Mother of Faces__**."**_

Narrowing his eyes, Naruto said, _"You mean that creature that was made out of seaweed or something? The one in The Forgetful Valley?"_

Laughing, the fox woman responded mirthfully, _**"I suppose if that is the very limits of your understanding, then yes, the 'seaweed or something' creature in the Forgetful Valley; the beautiful mother of Koh, the Face Stealer. My, oh my, my little cub: how foolish you have turned out to be. Yes, it is the very same place where we created Menma using my doppelganger technique. And then the **__Mother of Faces__** gave him a copy of your face."**_

Naruto frowned and said, _"Was that a form of bending or something? I don't quite understand what you did to create him."_

"_**Oh, my dear, it is far beyond your comprehension with that pea-sized brain of yours. Don't you worry; only accept my warm embrace as if I were your mother, shielding you from the worries of the world. There's no need for you to fret about my methods, darling; only understand that they are, indeed, necessary."**_

"_I have to go back before the children reach me and see me the way I am whenever I speak to you here. Let me leave."_

"_**Of course, my foolish little boy."**_

He watched in terror as the waterfall collapsed in front of him, its cliff being so high up above him that he was genuinely worried about falling rocks, even from where he stood, landing on him before he made his way out of this strange world that the fox woman created within him.

oOo

Before he knew it, Naruto's eyes were blinking and he found himself back on Air Temple Island with Meelo and Ikki still running up to him, barely leaving the spot that he had last seen them at.

When his eyes settled back in his head, he turned to look at Meelo who held up the coin and said, "Show me how you do it again! Again! Again!"

Ikki, meanwhile, grabbed the sleeve of his yukata and asked, "Where did you learn airbending? Were you an acolyte here on the island or at one of the other temples? Is that why you wear orange? How come you eat meat then? Why is your hair blond? Are you and Korra a thing or what?"

Naruto offered a bright smile to the young girl and said, "My, you ask a lot of questions don't you, Ikki?"

Ikki struck a cute pose by leaning forward slightly and lacing her fingers behind her back as she smiled up at the blond. "I just want to know!"

"Me too! Tell me how you do airbending!"

Smirking, Naruto patted Meelo on the top of the head and then extended his other hand out, saying, "Hand me the coin and I'll show you again."

oOo

When Korra finally reached Jinora, she saw the young girl was sitting by herself in front of a lake on the easternmost side of the island, but what struck the avatar was that she was talking to someone else who seemed to be nearby. Instead of just rushing in and getting the girl, Korra decided it was best to hear what the girl was saying. She wondered if this was something she would have to tell Tenzin and Pema about.

"I know Korra likes him, but I don't like the way he looks. He has a bad spirit inside of him somewhere. You saw it too, right? Yeah, it was like he was full of worms. Ugly, purple worms that you could see the inside of… maybe it's more like snakes? I'm not sure, but they were falling all over the place onto the ground. Why am I the only one who can see that?"

Korra's eyes were wide. _What was this little girl saying? Is she implying that some kind of spirit or… demon is living inside of Naruto? Or is she saying that __**he**__ is the demon?_

"And those whisker marks on his cheeks. He looks like a cat or a fox, but no one has brought it up and even Ikki hasn't asked about them. I definitely must be the only one…" Suddenly, Jinora broke into sniffles as she hugged her knees. Korra was about to move in when she kept speaking, "No, it's OK. I'm fine. I am just scared… I don't know how to tell everybody about him… I don't even know if the spirit inside of him is evil or not. It _looks_ evil. But how would I know for sure? I didn't think spirits could be evil in the first place… maybe there's something wrong with it. Maybe someone has to save Mr. Naruto."

Korra covered her mouth with her palm. _Jinora can see and talk to spirits._

_Everyone_ knew what spirits were, as far as Korra knew. But she was also aware that it was incredibly rare for someone to have the ability to communicate with the spirits or enter the spirit world. Korra had enough training to know that much, but she also knew the changing, industrialized world was destroying much of the ties to the spirit world that were left. She had even heard talks about removing some of the more dangerous zones like the "Forgetful Valley". She hadn't thought it was possible before, but after seeing all of the modernization in Republic City, she realized that this was a great problem that she would need to address, one way or another.

"I hope I can help Mr. Naruto someday. He seems like a nice enough person… whatever is evil inside of him must be harmful to him somehow… if I can save him…" She smiled and rested her chin on top of her knees, her eyes looking out toward the nearby mountain on the island.

Korra sighed and stepped out into the open, looking down at Jinora as she said, "There you are, Jinora."

The young airbender blushed and turned to look up at Korra, though she still hugged her knees tightly. "Korra… you came to get me?"

Smiling, Korra moved over to sit next to her and drape an arm around her shoulders, hugging her gently. "Of course, sweetie. Even if I wasn't supposed to watch after you, I would anyways because I care for you and the rest of your family. You guys have done so much for me. Plus, in a strange way, it feels like we're sisters, doesn't it?"

Jinora couldn't contain her smile and she closed her eyes, throwing her arms around Korra's neck as she hugged her fiercely. "Yes! Yes, it does, Korra!"

Korra chuckled and wrapped both of her arms around the young girl who sobbed quietly against her. "And since we're sisters, you can tell me about anything you want, OK? It doesn't have to be today, but if there's ever anything that you want to talk about, just let me know and we'll talk about it. I promise you that, OK?"

"OK, sis," whispered Jinora, her eyes filling up with tears as she started to hiccup between sobs. She wasn't sure she was ready to tell Korra about Naruto. At least not until she found out more about those strange spirits that were inhabiting his body, but she was happy that Korra would be there to listen to her when she was ready.

Korra held Jinora like she was the little sister she had always wanted as they sat there, watching the clouds above the mountain tops.

oOo

Later on, when the three kids were playing, Korra walked over to stand next to Naruto who seemed to be in a better mood now that he had spoken to Jinora and she had apologized for running away. Naruto, being Naruto, just laughed it off and told her he was fine with it. He didn't try and hug her or shake her hand or anything because she still seemed to be a little awkward around him. Instead, he held up his hand in a peace sign and grinned. Jinora mimicked him and then went off to play with her siblings.

Korra nudged him as she stood beside him, saying, "So what's up? Are you OK?"

Letting out a chuckle, Naruto said, "Yeah, it was my first rejection by a girl all over again. Except the first girl who refused to be near me ended up leaving the city altogether."

Rolling her eyes, Korra asked, "You're joking, right?"

Frowning, he responded, "No, I'm not joking."

"Oh… oh! I'm uh… I'm sorry about that. Sorry… I didn't mean to pry, I-"

"Hah! Gotcha!" Naruto grinned widely and wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her up off of her feet as she squealed.

"Hey! Put me down, darn you!" _I can't believe he tricked me like that!_

"Oh, I will," he responded in a lecherous tone. He then leaned in and whispered into her ear, "How about we take you to my room and put you down on my bed? Sounds like _fun_, right?"

Korra blushed and tried to scramble out of his arms, but the blond bastard had a firm grip! He kissed her belly as he held her up, and she scanned the area for the kids, noting that they were doing just fine, playing with some of the air bison.

"Naruto!" she seethed, gripping his yukata with all of her might as her toes curled and she sucked in a breath when his lips and teeth found her bellybutton and began to kiss and nibble her over the thin fabric. He held her up by keeping one arm under her buttocks and the other around the small of her back while she stayed as straight as a pole. She kept her legs clamped shut in case any of the acolytes caught them in such an intimate position.

"Why are you clamping up like this? You n-e-r-v-o-u-s? Say, I bet we could get pretty far without anyone seeing us by that shrine over there. You could even peek out to keep an eye on the kids."

Korra's eyes widened when she realized he was pointing at the spinning airbending panels. "What are you talking about… you mean… there in between them?"

Grinning, Naruto said, "Why not? All we have to do to check up on them is turn one of those boards slightly to the side, take a peek, and then go back to fooling around…" He slowly brought her back down to her feet as he talked, but once she was on her tiptoes, he wrapped his arms around her and whispered, "Or, you know, we could wait until they fall asleep tonight and then…"

Korra gasped and clamped her hands over his mouth when she saw Meelo standing there in front of them. Naruto grinned and turned to the bald little brat and said, "Hey squirt, whatcha up to?"

"The scary lady is here." He then turned away from the couple and pointed down the cobble pathway that led up to the main tower on the island. There, further on down, was Lin Beifong, looking at the couple with an unusually dangerous glint in her eyes.

She had first said hello to Meelo and the other two children, but when she saw Naruto standing there with his arms wrapped around the avatar, the entire island suddenly froze over.

Everyone except Naruto lost their composure. The blond just smirked and waved at her, his eyes squinting shut as he yelled out, "Hey ya old bat! Long time no see!"

Korra's mouth opened wide as if she were going to yell at him but, not knowing what to say, she just kept quiet with her mouth still gaping wide. Naruto, the gentleman that he was, cradled Korra's chin with his index finger and closed her mouth shut before giving her a peck on the lips. Beifong, meanwhile, was shaking at how much adrenalin she could feel coursing through her system at the moment. _It would only take a few seconds to wrap your chord around his neck and strangle him to death. He's a non-bender. He won't stand a chance._

She killed that thought that Naruto was a helpless little brat anymore. The man in front of her had managed to sink his teeth into the police force of Republic City. They even knew about the mole units that were in their employ, and both she and Saikhan had decided it was best to just keep them rather than dash overall morale to the entire force while they tried to smoke them out. At first they thought that they knew who was actually working for the mysterious "leader" of the triad collective that had begun to form. In reality, though, Lin had underestimated just how powerful and influential this man was… but was he truly Naruto? This blond kid who, once, paid for the damages to a shop that he inadvertently caused? The same brat whom she had bought ramen for on more than one occasion? The worst part about it was that she had once liked the brash, rude young man that he was becoming. It was as if she had a kid brother or, maybe, a son; but then one day he disappears and she doesn't see him for years and years until finally she hears rumors about a dangerous man who has all of the triad groups shaking under his thumb.

And that look in his eyes. It was the same one that the brat had since he was a kid. Except now his entire body language followed suit. The way he dressed was so foreign though, it was as if he wanted to stand out at all times even though _no one_ dressed like that anymore. Maybe the airbenders, but…

"Are you going to at least come over and say 'Hi'?" Naruto grinned at Korra when she tried half-heartedly to pull away from his grip.

"Hello, Korra." Lin said, nodding at the young avatar with a look of worry in her eyes. Korra, however, just offered a nervous smile and a wave when she saw Lin.

"Oh, hey Chief Beifong. What brought you all of the way out here? Come to try and steal Tenzin back?"

Naruto chuckled, much to Lin's annoyance.

"Nothing of the sort. I _am_ here to speak with him, however… although I wasn't expecting to find you and _Naruto_ here."

Korra looked a little surprised, but then she asked, "Is there something wrong with me or Naruto being here?"

Naruto smirked at the conflicting emotions he could see in Beifong's face. He knew exactly why she was so off-put about seeing him. _Looks like things worked out just fine. I'm surprised that Saikhan took it upon himself to take care of her… that red mark on her neck is hard to miss, but I wonder if Korra can see it? _ He reached down and pinched Korra's butt, causing her to yelp and smack him on the chest. A light smirk appeared on his face after he successfully distracted her attention.

"Hey! What was that for?!" Korra asked, glaring as he made a 'what-did-I-do?' face.

"Korra! I don't know what it is you're talking about," he said, playing dumb, "but there's no reason to resort to violence!"

_Does she understand?_

The look on Beifong's face twisted slightly until it looked like she was ready to snap, but she kept her cool and eventually she even smiled. It was a wicked, slightly crooked smile, but it was a smile nonetheless. "You should be careful, Korra. You don't want to accidentally break a rib on that weakling."

Sniffing, Naruto rubbed his eye, saying, "Why are you always so mean to me, Lin?"

"You shouldn't say that about Naruto. He saved my life last night."

Lin's eyes widened just a bit at this. She turned and narrowed her eyes at the blond as she wondered just what the heck was going on. "You saved her… at Air Temple Island, you mean?" Lin growled and glared at Korra, saying, "If you dare do anything so rash again I will personally break each of your fingers and toes and make you crawl a mile afterwards."

Korra flinched back at the angry remark and Naruto arched a brow with an amused look on his features.

"There's the mama platypus-bear we know and love. That means she's worried about you Korra. She's just telling you the same thing I told you last night. You shouldn't give your opponent time to prepare. It just gives them time to set up a trap for you."

Korra sighed and nodded slowly, "I know that _now_. How was I supposed to know that he wasn't honorable? I thought if we settled it one on one I could deal with him."

Lin rolled her eyes, "But you may never find yourself in a position like that to fight him in. So instead, you should always rely on your friends and those people around you who care about you to watch your back." Lin frowned and reached out, grabbing the young girl by her shoulder and clenching her hand tightly upon it, nabbing her attention from the blond. "Not because you couldn't do it alone if you tried. I'm sure you will be quite the powerful Avatar one day, but you need to include others because we want to be there for you too. Don't be so selfish, Korra."

Korra nodded and eyed Lin steadily as the "mama platypus-bear" smiled and released her shoulder.

Lin didn't know what drove her to reach out to the Avatar in such a way, but she had a feeling it had something to do with Naruto being so close to her. If it weren't for him, she wouldn't be so worried about the girl and she'd probably be as cold-shouldered as she usually was around her, even if she did secretly like the girl's attitude and charisma.

Naruto looked up when he noticed someone pulling up by boat. He was surprised to see Lee was the one driving the boat instead of Sakura, but he knew that it wasn't because Sakura had not wanted to drive all of the way out here.

No, instead, it was more likely that she was worried Lin would associate her with Sasuke somehow ~though she couldn't be sure that Lin had seen her at the police headquarters~ and then seeing her come to give Naruto his paperwork for the pro-bending stadium and franchise would probably leave no doubts in Lin's mind about what was truly going on if she just so happened to go to where her only known friend and ex-lover resided.

_Damn, I love this girl._ Naruto grinned at how intelligent his pink-haired assistant was.

"Korra, Lin, if you'll excuse me for a minute. One of my assistants has just arrived with some important paperwork I sent a messenger out for."

Korra remembered the pink-haired girl and nodded, "Oh, you mean last night? The girl who drove us back here?"

Nodding, Naruto smiled and began to walk down some steps as he headed out toward the beach. Several air acolytes were already there, inviting the young bartender onto the island after asking what his business here was.

Naruto waited for Lee to walk up as Korra turned to watch over the three kids who were starting to gravitate toward the Avatar with sneaky looks on their faces. She arched a brow in confusion for a bit as they began to circle her, giggling profusely.

Lin's eyes were focused on what Naruto was doing. He smiled at the bowl-cut wearing young man who smirked and held out a 'thumbs-up' sign with one hand and handed him a packet with the other. She listened to their conversation, which sounded casual enough as Naruto asked him a few questions about how Lee's mentor was, and also if it was hard to drive the boat on his own. They made small talk for a bit and Lin frowned and stalked away to check up on Korra.

Her eyes widened, however, when she saw all three of the children chasing after Korra on their air-scooters, laughing away as they tried to catch up with the Avatar in a friendly game. Korra grinned and used earth bending to hop over Meelo who almost caught her, making sure to lower the ramp that she used to make her jump before he crashed into it.

Lin smirked, but inside she was worried about what was going to happen when the police finally made their way here to the island. She wondered if it was wrong to ask to hide here. She knew that Korra would hide her without so much as a second thought, but she didn't want to risk putting the children in danger if the police weren't the only ones targeting her. Her other worry was also that Naruto had somehow planned all of this and was just waiting to get her with her guard dropped, but that seemed to be too much of a stretch.

Lin was starting to wonder if maybe she was wrong about Naruto.

She gnawed on her lower lip and crossed her arms as she looked down at the ground, her eyes slowly closing as she tried to reason with herself.

If it wasn't Naruto, then… who was _Menma?_

oOo

(Nearly two hours later)

Naruto sat in the living room at a table as he looked over the paperwork in front of him. Lee was long gone with some new orders that were coded in their casual conversation so that Lin couldn't pick them up, and now Naruto was skimming through everything written up by the Uchiha family so that he would own both cabbage corp. and the pro-bending franchise, legitimately.

Naruto seemed to be deep in thought when Korra walked into the room with a tray in her hands. He glanced up at the pretty Avatar and smiled, saying, "Hey, how are the kids doing?"

Korra smirked and said, "Well, Meelo has convinced Lin to play out in the garden with him while Ikki and Jinora are doing their afternoon meditations. Apparently Tenzin has them pretty well trained… not so much with Meelo though." Korra's eyes squinted shut as she grinned with a tinge of red on her cheeks as she said, "And I thought you and I could have some tea for a bit before I go back to play with them some more."

Naruto smiled apologetically and said, "I wish I didn't have to do this so I could just spend time with you, but-"

Korra shushed him as she put the tray down on the table away from his paperwork as she leaned in and pressed her lips against his. He hummed a bit in surprise and also appreciation as he felt her press into his body and kiss him more fully. They wrapped their arms around one another and rested back on the tatami mats that covered the living room floor. Luckily for them, all of the acolytes had their own practices to do and very rarely did they ever have to go visit Tenzin's home for anything, so it was only Naruto, Korra, Lin and the children. With Lin occupying the children, Korra felt emboldened to continue their night under the moonlight here in the warmth of the comfortable room in Tenzin's home.

Naruto sighed when she pulled away finally, his arms remaining around her waist as she wrapped hers around his neck, her palms lying flat on the ground underneath him as she continued to kiss his neck.

"I'm sorry I'm so nervous around other people… I just feel weird kissing and doing stuff like that out in public. But I have really been looking forward to doing this with you again…"

Naruto licked his lips and squeezed his arms tighter around her, pulling her closer to him so that he could kiss her again.

"After last night… it was so hard to sleep. I couldn't stop thinking about you. About what you did for me…" Korra whispered, reaching for his hand and taking it into hers as she squeezed his fingers between hers, smiling shyly with a slight tinge of red dusting her cheeks as she mentally prepared herself. They looked into each other's eyes as she pulled his hand over to the hem of her shirt, which she began to pull up to reveal her firm belly.

He watched carefully as she sat up on his lap, straddling him with her legs on either side of his thighs as she pulled back on her shirt and rolled it up. She led him up the front of her belly until his fingertips were resting against the front of her chest, in between the valley of her breasts while remaining hidden under the light blue shirt.

"You're not wearing a brassiere," Naruto noted quietly as he moved his hand up further and gently rubbed back and forth over the sides of each breast as she closed her eyes and just sat there, humming in approval with a quirky grin on her face.

Naruto sat upright and pulled up on the shirt, releasing her sensitive flesh for him to touch and caress. She opened her eyes and glanced down at him as her breath caught nervously in her throat. He smiled as he made eye-contact with her from underneath his lashes, his lips seeking out the side of her left breast as he massaged it carefully with one hand and flicked his thumb over the nipple of her right. Korra released a relieved sigh and bit her lip in anticipation as his mouth slowly neared her nipple, leaving a trail of moist kisses wherever it went.

Suddenly, she felt something hard and unrelenting scrape ever so carefully against her skin, making her suck in a deep breath as she gripped onto his shoulders fiercely, shocked by his actions. "Wait… what are you doing with your tee~oh!" Korra gasped as she felt his teeth pinch her nipple as carefully as possible as he gently tugged on it, flicking the sensitive tip with his tongue after capturing it in his mouth. It was an almost painful feeling at first, her nipples being hyper-sensitive due to it being her first time being touched in such a way and the simple fear brought on by the thought in her head that teeth were meant for tearing into flesh, not bringing pleasure to it. But she was quickly caught up in the act and was wondering how she let him get so far. She had only intended to let him _feel _her breasts, and yet, when he started kissing them she did not dare ask him to stop. If she did, she felt like she would be spending the next half hour by herself in the restroom trying to finish what he started, but that thought repulsed her when she knew she could just let him keep going and reach that cloudy peak that she knew she was already beginning to climb.

"Heya! Is anybody here?!" called out a loud voice from just around the corner by the entrance of the home.

Korra squeaked in surprise and immediately pulled herself off of Naruto's lap as the blond smirked and sat up straight as he began to look over the paperwork again while Korra, with a shaky arm, poured them both a glass of tea.

Naruto arched a brow and noted that Korra's breasts were still hanging out, so he reached over and pulled down on the front of her shirt just before Mako and Bolin turned the corner.

When they saw Korra sitting there, sipping her tea and shaking like a leaf, both Mako and Bolin's attention immediately veered to the other person sitting in the room.

Mako's initial reactions were of anger and then outright jealousy when he remembered the moment these two shared out on the balcony at the ball, but he tried his best to quench the fire in his belly as his eyes met with Naruto's. The blond did not seem intimidated by the way that Mako began to subconsciously adopt a wider stance and extend his arms out slightly as he attempted to make himself look more threatening than he was. Instead, he just smiled and said hello, since Korra was seemingly at a loss for words as she sat there with her palms in her lap and the only thing on her mind being the fact that her breasts were covered with saliva and she was worried that somehow the two boys could sense what had been going on only a second ago.

Spirits was she wet. She bit her lip and grinned uneasily at the two boys before waving at them, finally speaking up.

"Hey, what's up guys?"

Mako arched a brow but just clicked in annoyance while Bolin grinned back and waved courteously at Naruto before he turned to Korra, "We came to see if you were alright! I mean, you missed practice yesterday and then today. We were worried about you, ya know? Plus, our first match is coming up soon. We need all of the practice we can get!"

Korra eyed Mako curiously who was having trouble making eye-contact with her for some reason. After a moment or two, she responded to Bolin, saying, "Oh, well thanks for stopping by you two. I'm fine, just babysitting for Pema and Tenzin today… uhm, Naruto, these are my two teammates. You said you saw our matches as the fire ferrets, right?" Korra asked with a smile as she looked at the blond with a longing look that wasn't lost on Mako.

"Ah, so these are the other two fire ferrets, huh? I have got to say that I am a big fan." He smiled softly at Korra and reached over to take her hand. She blushed but smiled back and looked up at the two boys standing in front of them.

Bolin's mouth was agape as he said, "Wait, why are you two holding hands? When did you meet this guy?"

Korra frowned and said, "His name is Naruto, Bolin. Naruto, these two are Bolin and Mako." She nodded to each one when she said their names and squeezed her hand tightly around the blond's as they sat there together, "Naruto and I met on the first day that I came to Republic City, actually. He was sitting at a tea shop and I asked him for directions."

Naruto smirked and eyed the two upset-looking males in front of him. Mako appeared to be quite fearsome with eyes like ice as he glared down upon him. Bolin, on the other hand, looked a little disappointed as he said, "Aw, man. What a bummer! I thought you and I had a special thing going on, Korra!"

Naruto chuckled and said, "Oh? Korra, you didn't tell me that you were seeing someone on the side." He pinched her butt, making her yelp as she glared at him and bonked him lightly on the head, much to his amusement.

Bolin blanched and said, "I was only kidding! Jeez, had I known I didn't have a shot in the first place I… actually, no. I probably still would have tried because you're worth it, Korra! I'm sure we'd be friends anyways, somehow." Bolin wiped a tear from his eye and muttered, _huh, I wonder how that got there._

Korra smiled brightly at the earthbender and said, "You're sweet, Bolin."

"I know it. But seriously, tell me some more." He held his hand up to his ear and grinned.

Naruto and Korra laughed, but Mako was still silent, and that silence began to permeate the atmosphere around them.

Korra cleared her throat, saying, "Anyways, I was just taking a break from watching the kids. I think we can still get a bit of a workout in here even though we don't have the equipment here. Want to go outside for some spars?"

Mako turned and looked at Naruto and said, "How about you and I spar?"

Naruto blinked in surprise, but Korra held up her hand in front of her as she quickly came to Naruto's defense, "Hold your alligator-horses there, buster! He's a non-bender. He can't spar in the same way that we can."

Naruto smirked and stood up, saying, "Actually, I think it would be pretty fun. How'd you know I could fight? Could you see it in my eyes or something?"

Mako frowned and said, "It doesn't matter. Let's go."

Bolin and Korra both looked at each other, and each of them grabbed a hold of their counterpart and said, "Hold on a minute!"

Korra pulled Naruto away, whispering, "Naruto, he's really good. Don't underestimate him, even if he's not allowed to use his firebending."

Naruto laughed and said, "Oh, no, let him use his firebending. I don't mind."

"You can't be serious… Naruto, I can't let you go out there and fight him if you're going to act like that."

Naruto smiled and kissed her on the lips, silencing her, "I appreciate the concern, but it's no big deal. He just wants to work something out of his system and I happen to be the best way for him to do it, in his mind. You can tell that he has something against me just from that look in his eyes. I'm game."

"Naruto…"

"Korra." He said with a stern look in his eyes. She swallowed when he cupped her chin with his hand and asked her, his eyes peering into hers carefully as if he was searching for something, "Do you trust me?"

"I…" She felt her knees grow weak as he held her there. He repeated his question and she sighed, nodding slowly. "Yeah… I trust you."

"OK! Then chin up, because I'm going to show your friend a thing or two about sparring." He smiled sincerely at her and walked out to meet with Mako and Bolin who had already been talking on their way out the door.

oOo

"Bolin, quit whining. I know what I'm doing."

"Are you sure now is the time to be throwing your weight around like this? We both know this guy has got little-to-no chance against you, even if you aren't using bending. You're just going to piss off Korra if you win, and if you lose you're just going to get even madder at him."

"Whatever."

"Why do you want to fight him? Is it because of Korra?"

"I saw them kissing yesterday, Bolin."

The earthbender visibly frowned, but he just crossed his arms guardedly as if he were trying not to let that bit of news hurt. "So?"

"How come this guy who she never introduced to us and who never went to go congratulate her after watching our matches is suddenly the boyfriend? I don't feel right about him. He needs a kick in the ass."

Bolin cringed at the tone of voice his brother was using. He's heard that _nothing-can-change-my-mind _shtick before. "Well… good luck bro. Don't underestimate him."

When Mako walked out into the middle of one of the training areas, he was joined quickly by Naruto who jogged up and waved at him with a grin on his face.

Bolin frowned and said, "Oh man… No matter how you look at this, this is not going to end well."

oOo

When Lin stepped out after grabbing the kids a snack and asking them to wait patiently in the living room, she pressed her bare feet against the ground after shifting away the bottom of her shoes so she could find Naruto and Korra.

_Damn brats have been gone for so long, _she thought, _they better not be fooling around somewhere._

To her surprise, she felt Korra standing beside someone other than Naruto. Thinking about it carefully, she realized it was the earthbender that was part of her pro-bending group. Lin also felt Naruto, who was standing out in an open training field with the other member of the group standing across from him. She felt the heartbeats of the two and thought there must've been some sort of altercation for one of them to have such an elevated heart rate. The firebender of her group… ah, yes, she remembered them clearly. Although she did know them through Korra, she had once caught Mako stealing food when he was a boy and she could easily tell that it was the same kid. She even knew about his time with the triads, but that was ancient history and not something she cared to dig into at all. Not unless he was still doing work for them and she wasn't aware of it.

When Lin finally made it to the small arena, she growled angrily at Korra and spoke in a louder voice, "What is the meaning of this? What is going on between these two?!"

Korra and Bolin both flinched at the angry voice of the Chief of Police (as far as they knew, she still was). Korra offered a caught-red-handed look and Bolin just started whistling, covering his eyes as if he couldn't see her standing there.

Mako was silent, but Naruto just grinned and waved at her, "Hey mama platypus-bear! Don't worry! It's just a friendly spar, that's all!" His grin reached his eyes and his white teeth shined brightly under the light of the afternoon sun.

Mako sighed, annoyed that she was getting in the way of their fight. He didn't know why Naruto even accepted, but he figured that the blond was one who couldn't walk away from a challenge.

_I can respect that, at least, _he thought.

Lin frowned and crossed her arms, saying, "Aren't you a non-bender? What kind of spar is this going to be? Just martial arts?"

Naruto shrugged and called back, "Dunno! We'll start with that and see how it goes from there, I guess!"

"Fine… alright, I'll watch over the match and if it gets out of hand then I'll split you two up. Mako, you better not go overboard."

Naruto made a so-happy-I'm-sad-face and touched his heart as he said, "That's my mama platypus-bear! Thank you for being so sweet, mama!"

Lin fired a single stone once he turned his head around and had it glance off the back of his head. He immediately doubled over, grabbing at his scalp as he hissed, "Tetetetete! Ouch, what was that for?!"

"Being a smart-ass. Now get to it." Lin stood with a light twitch of the side of her mouth as she watched the boys slowly decide if they were going to go through with it or not.

Korra walked up beside Lin and whispered, _"Thank you."_

Lin looked at Korra with an arched eyebrow briefly before turning back to the two young men and shrugging, "I don't want either of them to get hurt."

In reality, what she was thinking was that this was an opportune moment for her to see just how capable Naruto had become in a fight.

Korra frowned and asked, "Either? Naruto can't use bending to fight with Mako."

"Don't the equalists fight without bending?" Lin said as a statement rather than a question.

Bolin was the one to interject here, "Well, yeah, duh. But they have chi blocking. Is Naruto a chi blocker?"

Korra shook her head. "Actually, I don't know exactly what he does to fight. I've never really seen him before. He is _very_ creative though. He saved me from Amon using fireworks, smoke grenades and needles that he shoots out of his mouth like darts."

Both of the earthbenders standing next to her sweat-dropped at that bit of information.

"Wait a sec… you're saying that Naruto stood up to Amon?" asked Bolin, worry now plainly written on his face for his brother.

"Well… not exactly. Amon trapped me on Aang Memorial Island and he was about to knock me out and leave me there when Naruto used fireworks to cause this huge distraction inside to get me out of there. It was amazing, really."

"What exactly did he do?" asked Lin, looking carefully at the blond who was standing out in his usual yukata with matching pants and his geta on his feet.

"Well… the first thing I remember was an equalist that was strapped with jumbo-sized firecrackers ~hundreds of them probably~ and tossed into the middle of the room. Amon and the rest of his goons inside were so stunned that they just stared for a while in shock until more fireworks started going off all around the room. It was both beautiful and scary. I saw some of the equalists screaming and complaining because of the bright lights. I don't remember what happened, but a moment later I was being carried out the front of the shrine and this grey metal ball flew past me ~I barely ducked my head out of the way in time when I saw it~ and then following that first smoke grenade were hundreds and hundreds of fireworks shooting out like arrows from the boat out in the middle of the water."

"And this was Naruto carrying you? He set all of this up?" She asked, looking very skeptical at the Avatar. _This girl must be delusional. _

Korra frowned at the look that Lin was giving her and she turned away to look back at the boys who were talking to one another, saying, "If you don't believe me then I won't bother. I know you think I'm crazy."

Bolin, meanwhile, just looked at Pabu for a moment and then they both nodded. He pointed his finger at the side of his head and moved his hand in circles as he said, "Coo-coo! Coo-coo!"

Korra stomped on the ground and sent the earthbender flying into the air, but Lin caught him with her wire mid-air and brought him back down carefully.

"Nice, Korra."

The Avatar grumbled and crossed her arms in annoyance as she pressed her chin downwards against the top of her sternum. Then she saw Naruto reach out with his hand to shake Mako's, which she thought was very kind of him, but then her eyes widened when she saw what happened next.

oOo

Naruto smiled and walked up to Mako, saying, "Hey, no hard feelings after this, right?"

Mako looked down and saw he had extended his arm out. Smirking, the firebender began to reach out as he said, "Yeah, whatever."

However, as soon as his hand touched Naruto's, the blond yanked down as hard as he could and threw the firebender off balance, kneeing him in the gut as he pulled him past him, only to turn around and elbow the back of his head immediately afterwards.

Mako reacted by immediately turning around after the foul strike to the back of his head and shooting out a blast of fire like a flamethrower at the blond.

Korra, Bolin and Beifong all immediately tensed up when they saw him shoot out the massive flame at the trickster blond. However, they were surprised when they saw him leap up into the air above Mako.

Lin was about to intervene because she knew that the blond had set himself up in a terrible predicament by jumping up over the firebender. Now all Mako had to do was blast straight up into the air and Naruto would be barbeque. However, she was surprised to see that Naruto was pelting Mako with stones he had somehow managed to collect from the ground before leaping up into the air. "Have a taste of my mighty earthbending technique!" he yelled as he turned while upside down in mid-air, finally landing upright and facing Mako who was now several bruises richer.

Lin remained in place and immediately grabbed Korra by the shoulder because she could feel the Avatar was about ready to jump in head first and beat Mako's ass for doing something so dangerous right from the start.

"Wait! Do not interfere… I want to see just how far he can take this."

Naruto had already landed and was now moving in under Mako's guard quicker than the firebender was used to reacting. The rock-pelting had worked perfectly and it had thrown Mako for a loop because he simply wasn't expecting such a tactic.

He threw his arms up to block several viper-quick strikes that had plenty of strength behind them as well. Naruto, however, seemed to also have a high level of endurance because he didn't falter or slow down at all while attacking. Mako knew his arms and abdomen was going to be sore tomorrow just from these first few punches. He wanted to move back and fight using his bending, but he knew that it wasn't the most sporting decision he could make throughout this fight. Instead, he decided to use his own knowledge of the fire bending technique to amplify his fighting style.

Smartly taking two strikes to the chest, Mako endured the pain long enough to reach in and throw his punch straight at Naruto's face. The blond reeled back from the punch's bite and had to gather himself back up after being struck so hard. It was long enough for Mako to move in and go on the offensive, using a lot of low kicks and side-steps to move closer and closer into Naruto's guard and to stop him from utilizing his rather impressive speed against him.

When Naruto struck once, dodged a punch and then went for the backhand, Mako ducked and caught the backhand on the other side with his arms and pulled Naruto over his shoulder, kicking the leg he was balancing on to throw him off balance so that he could slam him into the ground. To his surprise, the attack worked and Naruto was now planted roughly on the ground, but Mako cringed when he noticed that Naruto's hand was practically glued onto his shirt. He changed his grip and pulled down on his opponent's arm as he kicked his legs up and caught Mako in stomach, using his legs to lift him off of the ground before slamming him face-first onto the ground by his feet.

The firebender crashed into the ground and groaned in pain while Naruto stood up and took a few steps back as he said, "You done, squirt?"

A new flame roused in Mako's belly as he immediately spun around on the ground and shot flames out of his feet and arms as he basically breakdanced on the ground, spraying out fire like a flame throwing sprinkler head.

Naruto frowned at the boy's brash decision and decided enough was enough.

Throwing his arms up in a stance he practiced for a long time with Jiraiya, Naruto used twisting and turning motions to dodge each of Mako's attacks, even doing the splits once to dodge a wave that he fired off with both hands after he was back up on his feet.

oOo

Meanwhile, Beifong's eyes widened in surprise. "Huh. That's impressive… He's really flexible, isn't he?"

Korra looked at her with narrowed eyebrows as she said, "Just what are you asking, exactly?"

Bolin had a stunned expression on his face as he said, "Oh man! If I did that I'd probably tear my groin."

Pabu made a sound and Bolin nodded. "Yeah, you said it, brother."

Both Korra and Lin eyed Bolin both cautiously and with concern in their eyes when they realized he was talking to his fire ferret.

Lin then turned back to the fight and said, "He's really holding his own… I'm starting to have more faith in what you said earlier about him using fireworks to fight off Amon… that is so ridiculous to just up and tell someone, don't you realize that?"

Korra rolled her eyes, "Doesn't mean it didn't freaking happen! I can't explain it either. He's resourceful. You saw his 'earthbending'."

Bolin butted in, saying, "Jeez! I wish I thought about keeping extra rocks on me at all times so that I can throw them at people."

"Bolin… you can bend rocks. You don't need to do that."

Shaking his head, he said, "Well, you never know if you'll get trapped somewhere where you won't have any earth to bend. Like a metal cell or something."

Nodding in agreement, Korra said, "Ah! Good point."

"Just learn metalbending if that's the case then." Beifong muttered.

"Aw, but that's not creative at all."

Lin rolled her eyes, but kept quiet as she paid attention to the heated match in front of them.

oOo

"Stay still!" Mako yelled, annoyed at this point from not being able to land a single firebending attack on Naruto.

"What, are you slow in the head too? Why the heck would I stay still long enough for you to hit me with one of those things, you dumb ass!"

A vein popped out on Mako's forehead as he glared angrily at the non-bender he was fighting. The blond had the quickest feet he knew. Even _with_ those blocky sandals on his feet. It was incredible to see someone so attune with firebending to know what he was about to do before he could even pull it off… wait, that was it, wasn't it? Mako eyed him carefully and watched his footwork as Naruto used a turning motion to move out of the way, circling in a strange pattern that had him spinning around in circles even as he moved closer and closer to the center while moving around him.

It was like the planets spinning on their axis, and yet also moving around the sun. Except he could suddenly change directions and step forwards and backwards and sideways and jump or duck, making him almost impossible to hit thanks to his speed.

Before Mako could finish deducing what it was that Naruto was doing to get the better of him even when he was using firebending, the blond kicked some dirt up into the air straight at Mako's face, making him yelp as Naruto moved in for the kill.

All three of the spectators jumped when they saw Naruto step in and kick at the back of Mako's legs while pushing forward on his chest and head, effectively sweeping him and dropping him down roughly on his back. When Mako moved to get up, Naruto already had his geta pressed into his throat and was glaring down at the firebender with some of the most dangerous looking eyes that the young man had ever seen.

"That's enough, Mako. Stay down."

When Mako blasted Naruto in the chest with a fireball from his mouth, however, he managed to get up only long enough for Naruto to score a critical strike on the side of his head using his elbow. Leaving the firebender with a messy gash on his head as he hit the ground, Naruto kicked him in the gut once before reaching down and grabbing him by the collar, saying, "If you get up again, I'll put you down for good." This time, Mako was sure that he saw red in his opponent's eyes. The pair of blues staring down at him told him otherwise, however.

"How did you take the fireball to the chest like that?" Mako asked in a strained voice, shaking from the pain of being put into the ground several times already. It hurt his pride more than his body, and he was still fighting with himself over whether or not he should attack the blond again or stop and just lie down.

Naruto smirked and reached into his yukata, procuring a knife that had a lot of soot on it from being burnt, and Mako was surprised to see the answer staring right back at him in the face.

"You… you stopped the brunt of it with the flat end of that knife…" He looked at Naruto's bare chest and noticed that some of the flame had managed to hit him, actually burning him pretty badly where the blade had not deflected the blast.

"Yeah. Good try though." Naruto then let him go and began walking away, waving at Korra and the others. "We're done!" he yelled.

"Mako?! What the hell do you think you're… Naruto! Watch out!"

Naruto turned and fired his knife with reflexes only gained from fighting for one's life every time they sparred under Jiraiya's tutelage. The blond watched as the lightning collided with the blade and stopped there. Mako's eyes widened when the knife shot past his face, slicing his cheek and embedding itself in a tree behind him with a loud 'thunk' sound. He turned to look at the blade which was still brimming with electricity, having somehow displaced the lightning bolt that he had fired at the blond.

"What the…" Mako turned back around and saw Naruto walking over to him. He took a few steps back, but eventually stopped and just tried to avert his eyes as this monster walked closer and closer toward him.

"If you're wondering about what just happened," Naruto said, walking casually past Mako who was now being subdued by Lin who had had enough of his misplaced anger toward the blond, "this knife is especially made to deal with firebenders. I had the handle especially made out of a rubber material that nearly eliminates the electricity that the blade comes into contact with. I'm not sure if I can hold it by the handle and still stop from getting electrocuted, but it works in a pinch when one of you firebenders gets wily and decides to try and put a hole in my chest with that electric bolt of yours. And the blade itself is made out of a high-quality metal that is very resistant to heat, so that's a good thing too."

Mako eyed Naruto carefully as he stopped beside him, wiping the soot from the blade that he removed from the tree in his hand before he secured it back underneath the front of his yukata where he had a small sheathe for it. "Good fight… no hard feelings, right?" Naruto said, reaching out with one hand to shake Mako's.

Mako looked down at the hand being offered to him even as Lin moved in and had his arms tied down to his sides as she prepared to strike him hard enough to knock him out if he tried anything stupid.

Mako saw the sincerity in Naruto's eyes and so he reached out and shook his hand. The blond grinned and Mako nodded, saying, "Yeah… no hard feelings."

Naruto nodded in agreement and walked over to Korra who immediately noticed the burned flesh on his abdomen and started rushing him off somewhere so that she could tend to his wounds using her waterbending. She didn't leave the area completely, however, without giving Mako a pointedly dirty look. Mako caught the glare and his head dropped down in shame while Lin smacked him on the top of the head with her hand.

"You idiot! You're lucky he didn't kill you!" Lin yelled, glaring back at Bolin who flinched when he saw her angry eyes. "You! Get this oaf out of here and don't let me see you two coming back here any time soon without a proper invitation from Korra, got it?!"

"Uh, but we were just!"

When Lin Beifong levelled Bolin with death-glare, however, the lowly pro-bender immediately nodded and took his brother by the arm, dragging him off to the docks where they could ask the acolytes there for a ferry across the water.

Lin grumbled and brought her wire back into its spool. Her eyes then widened when she noticed three pairs of eyes peeking out from behind a nearby bush.

"Didn't I tell you three to stay put!? You're going to be in a world of hurt if you don't march your butts back into the house this instant!"

Jinora, Ikki and Meelo shrieked and took off running, Meelo in particular had his arms flailing in the air as he ran away.

_Damn nosy kids… _Her eyes looked back onto the training field in front of her and she sighed, thinking, _Naruto just made himself more suspect, in my opinion, than he was before… how can a non-bender overpower a topnotch firebender like that?_

She wasn't sure why, but Lin could feel her heart racing as she thought about the way he moved in the fight against Mako. She snuffed any thoughts that began coming to mind as she walked back inside, hoping that Pema and Tenzin would finally come back home already so that she could talk with them.

One thing was bothering her though: why hasn't Saikhan sent anyone to investigate the island yet?

oOo

Korra had walked Naruto all of the way to his room and was sitting there on his bed with a bucket of water on the floor next to them. She took a damp cloth and gently touched his burnt abdomen as she shook her head, saying, "I can't believe that asshole took the fight this far. He didn't have to keep attacking. The fight was already over."

Naruto noticed that this was one of those times when a man doesn't interrupt a woman's outer expression of the emotions coursing through her. Instead, he only sits there and listens, and maybe caress her cheek at the right time to help her ease her temper and relax.

Korra was no different from any other woman. She was proud. Expressive. Kind most of the time. Tough when necessary. Naruto should have been elated that the afternoon spar worked out so well in his favor in regards to the young Avatar, but honestly, it was bothering him a bit that she was getting so worked up over him. Korra was a little more passionate than most people in general about how she felt, and she let everyone and their grandmother know just what she was thinking when she was really standing up for or against something she believed in.

In this case, she thought Mako had dangerously overreacted and was toying with the thought of asking Lin to take him into custody because of what he had just done. Naruto could see those thoughts moving a mile a minute in her head and he chose this time to reach out and grab her by her chin so that he could kiss her on the lips.

When their lips touched, Korra closed her eyes and moaned against his mouth. She felt his tongue press against her soft flesh and she invited it in with enthusiasm as he opened his mouth more to accept her as well. Their kiss lasted for a few moments and when it ended Korra sighed as she rested her head against his chest, her hands resting on his thighs as she muttered, "You know, Lin could help you press charges against him… he shouldn't have done what he did. That was crossing the line."

Naruto smiled mirthfully and pulled her into his arms as he said, "But you healed me, right? I can't even feel the pain anymore. I feel good as new, actually. You are a very skilled waterbender."

Korra nodded, "I learned from the best. Katara is a master waterbender like none other, and she always stressed how important it was to view the elements as the realignment of the spirit. Water, she said, wasn't the only one that could provide healing. She said that while water could help soothe and revitalize, fire could make someone feel stronger in spirit while earth could provide a boost in resistance to diseases."

Smiling, Naruto asked, "Oh, and what does air do?"

Korra nuzzled into his neck and she said, "Air can cleanse the body of bad feelings and make one carefree and forgiving… I always thought she was a little crazy, myself."

Naruto laughed heartily and Korra shared in the laughter, shaking her head as she thought of her old master. He sighed and moved to lie on his back, watching her as she crawled over him and joined him on his other side on the bed.

When they heard a knock on the door, Korra didn't even get up. She just groaned and mumbled, "What do you want?"

"Is Naruto alright? Was he hurt badly?" It was Beifong's voice.

"No, he's fine…"

"Naruto, I just wanted to ask…"

Naruto, however, cut her off and said, "Don't worry about it. Mako is just a little too strong in spirit today. You don't have to worry about booking him for anything because he didn't do anything wrong. We both agreed to that messy spar."

Lin frowned behind the door, but nodded. She wasn't going to ask him that, but it was better if she didn't try to pry at the moment. With her earthbending, however, she could tell that there were _two_ people lying in the bed, and Lin said, "No fooling around, you two. You hear me? You're too young to be baby makers yet."

Flustered, Korra sputtered out, "W-wha-what makes you think we're doing anything like that, huh?!"

"No one, but your heart rate is telling me that you're really thinking about doing that tonight, and I don't want the Avatar to end up pregnant before she even turns eighteen!"

Korra was blushing bright red and trying to hide her face in the pillow on the bed as she lied down face-first. Naruto heard her muttering something incoherently, but he just chuckled and gently began stroking her hair.

"Can't promise you nothing, Lin."

Korra's eyes widened and she looked at the blond with a sidelong glance as if she wasn't sure she had just heard what he just said.

"Do I have to watch over you two the entire night?"

Naruto yelled back in response, "Only if you're into voyeurism!"

Korra whispered to him, "You're _so_ bad…"

He smirked and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close as he said, "You know you like it."

Korra bit her lower lip and then nodded, saying, "I think I really do."

Suddenly, he pounced on her and began tickling her, making her shriek and laugh and giggle under his ministrations while Lin just stood outside and shook her head in disbelief. She realized now that the two brats were going to leave babysitting to her, so Lin decided to go see how the kids were doing playing together.

"Already ditching their parental responsibilities before they even have their own kids… spirits save these two poor souls."

oOo

**Lazebe: **So, I'm done with this ridiculously massive chapter. I have been working on it off and on between coming up with jokes for gilded, but I still haven't updated that story (but I will!). I am also drawing a lot, so that takes up a lot of my time. But anyways, if you enjoyed this chapter or my story, then I hope you leave me a review and tell me what you like about it :)

On that note, I also don't mind reviews that offer criticism so long as they give me a reason why you think a certain way about how the story might be off or wrong or whatever. I have received a review or two by a guest and one by someone who wasn't accepting private messages who said something and didn't even explain why they thought a certain way about a part of my story. I love to talk about it and if you don't let me then it just bums me out and doesn't help me at all as a writer. I do appreciate even the guest reviews, so long as they are more than, "This story sucked man." I'd prefer, "This story sucked man, and this is why!" That at least gives me something to work with.

There may be a lemon next chapter.

Lol Anyways, please check out my profile for new polls and go see the drawings my group has on the NarutoKorra crossover in deviantArt or tumblr.

P.S.: I thought the quote at the beginning of the chapter from Prince Ashitaka in Princess Mononoke was actually quite fitting of Naruto in this story. I hope that you liked my incorporation of the Kyubi as the archetypal inner demon bound to Naruto by contract. I also would like to thank NeoNazo356 again for the idea to change the story's picture to the original Winds drawing that I made of Naruto and also for the great conversation I had with them by private message.


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